Your choices:
1 Process heat (150 - 1000 °C); 2 Electricity; 3 Biomass (digestible sludge)
| What is your resource? | What do you want to deliver? | What is the service the customer wants? |
| 3 Biomass (digestible sludge) | District cooling | Comfortable indoor climate |
| Biomass (fermentable sludge) | District heating | Electricity |
| Biomass (solid) | 2 Electricity | Process cooling (< 0 °C) |
| Geothermal | Fuel: Gaseous | Process heat/steam (50 - 150 °C) |
| Sunshine | Fuel: Liquid | 1 Process heat (150 - 1000 °C) |
| Water | Fuel: Solid | Process heat (> 1000 °C) |
| Wind | Local cooling (ind. house) | Transport |
| Residual oils/fats etc | Local heating (ind. house) |
The energy carrier obtained from digestible sludge is a gaseous fuel that is, in large-scale plants, upgraded and either injected to the European gas grid or sold as a transportation fuel. In smaller applications, such as farm-scale digesters, will the biogas be used locally.
Only scarcely will it be used for the production of electricity but if so, it should be only in CHP or tri-generation plants.
The amounts of electricity available on the grid, originating from digestible sludge, will therefore be very limited and this would not be a feasible route to go.