EU Methane Regulation 2024/1787: obligations for the energy sector and significance for biogas

Regulation (EU) 2024/1787 on the reduction of methane emissions in the energy sector, which entered into force on 4 August 2024, imposes obligations on the fossil fuel sector — oil, natural gas and coal — and not directly on biogas plants or biomethane producers. It requires measurement, reporting and verification of emissions, regular detection and repair of leaks, and a limit on routine venting and flaring of methane, and in the coming years also documentation of methane emissions from imports. For biogas it is significant mainly indirectly.

Why methane

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a shorter lifetime in the atmosphere than CO₂, so reducing it brings a rapid climate effect. The EU methane strategy of October 2020 announced action in energy, agriculture and waste; the 2024 regulation is its legislative part in the energy sector. Agriculture and waste (e.g. slurry, landfills) remain outside its scope.

Scope according to the European Commission

Enforcement, compliance decisions and most of the reporting are the responsibility of the competent national authorities, and penalties are set by the Member States.

Where biogas fits

The Commission's page devoted to the regulation does not mention biogas or biomethane in its subject matter. This does not mean that the regulation has no effects for the industry:

• Gas infrastructure. The obligations of grid operators and gas sector installations (to the extent set out in the regulation) may affect costs and standards that also touch biomethane injection points. Check in the text of the regulation which elements of infrastructure are covered.
• Prices and the market. Requirements for importers may increase the costs of gas coming from supplies without documented low methane emissions, which changes the price relationship between natural gas and biomethane — the editors' assessment, dependent on future prices.
• A standard of technical culture. Tightness of the installation, control of methane escapes and limiting gas flaring are good practices in biogas plants too; some investors adopt them voluntarily in financing or certification.

What to do in practice

1. Check whether your activity falls within the scope. If you are a producer of biogas or biomethane, and not a grid operator, you usually have no obligations arising directly from the regulation.
2. Ask the grid operator about planned changes to connection standards and to monitoring of escapes at injection points.
3. Inventory the sources of methane escapes in your installation: safety valves, tank covers, blowers, condensate drains, the flare.
4. Introduce a tightness check (e.g. periodic surveys with a detector), which may turn out to be required in contracts with customers or financiers.
5. Track the deadlines. Staged implementation means that the dates for importers and for reporting are not the same.

Typical misconceptions

• "The regulation bans flares at a biogas plant" — no; the ban on routine flaring concerns the fossil fuel sector, and a safety flare remains an element of the installation.
• "Agriculture is covered" — the regulation governs the energy sector, not emissions from farms.
• "Biomethane is automatically exempt from consequences" — indirect effects may concern the grid and the gas market.

Methane at a biogas plant: where it comes from and how to reduce it

Biogas usually contains more than half methane, so every leak is a loss of raw material and an emission of a greenhouse gas. Typical sources include leaking tank covers and membranes, overpressure/vacuum valves, pipe connections, compressors and blowers, the dewatering system, and also unburned methane in the exhaust of cogeneration engines. An additional source may be an open digestate store. Reducing these losses is good practice regardless of the regulation: it improves the gas balance, safety (explosion hazard) and the result in carbon footprint calculations.

Political context

The regulation fits into the EU methane strategy of October 2020 and into the global commitment to reduce methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 relative to the 2020 level, adopted at the climate summit in Glasgow (the Global Methane Pledge). For the Union, imports are significant: a large part of the gas consumed in the EU comes from outside, so the requirements also cover supply chains beyond its borders. That is why the staged obligations for importers are the most visible element of the regulation.

Questions to ask the operator or financiers

• Will new requirements on monitoring methane escapes appear in the connection or injection agreement?
• Does the bank or investor expect an annual report on tightness and methane emissions?
• How does the customer (e.g. industry) assess the methane footprint of biomethane when comparing it with imported gas?

This text is for information purposes and does not constitute legal advice; before an investment or formal decision, check the current wording of the regulations and consult a lawyer or the competent authority.