Biogas loses ground as wind and solar dominate new renewable power

A 2026 analysis says biogas is being squeezed by falling wind and solar costs, stagnant bioenergy economics and limited feedstock. The authors argue biogas should shift from a primary power source to targeted uses like grid balancing, waste treatment and green chemistry.

Why it matters: - Wind and solar captured 96.6% of new global renewable electricity capacity in 2024, leaving biogas at just 0.5%. - The gap matters because biogas faces higher costs, tighter feedstock limits and stronger land-use competition than the fastest-growing renewables. - The authors argue biogas is more valuable as a niche tool for seasonal storage, grid balancing, waste management and green chemistry than as bulk power generation.

What happened: - A 2026 perspective article in ENGINEERING Environment examined the market position of biogas. - The paper was written by Mingze Shi and Xinmin Zhan at the University of Galway with an international team from Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, China and Japan. - The article says biogas should be reassessed as a targeted energy and materials solution rather than a primary energy source. - The source URL for the paper is the DOI record.

The details: - Over the past decade, wind and solar costs fell 70% to 90%. - Bioenergy costs stayed almost flat and edged up from 0.086 to 0.087 USD/kWh. - In Germany, 2024 levelized electricity costs for biogas ranged from 20.2 to 32.5 euro cents/kWh. - German wind power costs ranged from 4.3 to 10.3 euro cents/kWh, and utility-scale solar PV ranged from 4.1 to 6.9 euro cents/kWh. - Biogas plants carry recurring feedstock costs after construction, unlike wind and solar. - The International Energy Agency estimates global biomethane potential at about 730 million tonnes of oil equivalent. - The IEA says only 55 Mtoe can be developed below 10 USD/MMBtu. - Biogas systems are site-specific and less scalable than standardized wind and solar technologies. - Biodigester installation makes up only 20% to 40% of total biomethane production costs. - Feedstock procurement, processing and plant operations make up the rest of the cost base. - In Germany, energy crops for biogas covered 1.35 million hectares in 2024. - Maize accounted for nearly two-thirds of that area. - Each additional billion cubic metres of crop-based biomethane would require roughly 0.17 to 0.25 million hectares of agricultural land. - Germany, Italy and Austria have shifted feedstocks from organic waste toward purpose-grown energy crops to keep plants viable. - From 2021 to 2023, EU fossil-fuel subsidies rose while renewable-energy subsidies fell from €83 billion to €61 billion. - Biogas projects often need multiple support mechanisms at the same time. - An Irish case study found a 40 GWh/year anaerobic digestion plant needed biomethane certificates, capital grants and an extra farm subsidy of €893 per hectare to remain viable.

Between the lines: - The economics suggest biogas is not failing because the technology is useless, but because it is being measured against cheaper and more scalable electricity options. - The land-use issue is more than a cost problem. It also raises food-versus-fuel tradeoffs when crop-based feedstocks expand. - The strongest case for biogas appears where its unique benefits cannot be replaced easily by wind, solar or batteries. - Those benefits include using existing gas infrastructure, treating organic waste and enabling methane-based green chemical production. - Anaerobic digestion can inactivate over 99% of major pathogens in livestock manure. - Full manure utilization for biogas could reduce agricultural greenhouse-gas emissions by 1,000 MtCO2-equivalent a year.

What's next: - The authors want policymakers to back biogas selectively, project by project, instead of setting broad expansion targets. - Future investment is likely to be strongest in applications tied to waste streams, grid flexibility and industrial feedstock needs. - Without better feedstock access, the paper warns that expansion could become a financial burden instead of a climate solution.

The bottom line: - Biogas is not being positioned as a rival to wind and solar anymore. The paper says its future depends on whether it can prove value in jobs the big renewables do not do well.