World Biogas Summit: Financing biogas hinges on certification, transparency and trust

Unlocking capital for biogas projects will depend on improving certification, building trust in carbon accounting, and aligning with evolving policy frameworks, according to speakers at the World Biogas Summit 2025, which took place last week.

In a session focused on financing the future of biogas, representatives from Denmark, the US and Brazil warned that fragmented standards and inconsistent life cycle assessments are holding back bankability.

Despite the sector’s growing climate value, developers continue to face barriers to finance without clear frameworks to quantify and reward environmental performance.

Investor trust depends on credible carbon data

Alycia Tolman, Director of Carbon Markets at the American Biogas Council, said the lack of standardisation in carbon accounting is a major roadblock.

“Offtakers and buyers are really looking for recognised, defensible and commonly used methodologies,” she said. “If your LCA doesn’t use a recognised model or third-party validation, it’s often a red flag.”

Tolman also advocated for transparency, stating that producers should “let them (buyers) behind the curtain” and allow open access to the LCA models and frameworks that are being used.

“That means sharing baseline assumptions and emission factors, digestate handling, and so on,” she said. “Buyers want to see the math because that reinforces confidence in the climate value and the climate impact.”

Project finance models need de-risking tools

Line Lundbye of Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund explained how biogas projects can be bankable, but only if developers present well-structured projects and reduce risk for lenders.

“We see that biogas projects are bankable, and we also see a movement towards project finance. But still, it’s early days, and that’s why de-risking strategies are crucial,” she said.

She added that project finance requires proven technology, creditworthy partners, and clear contractual structures.

Denmark’s so-called ‘biogas model’ is built on large-scale plants closely integrated with the agricultural sector. The EIFO has financed more than 15 biogas plants, including 11 operated by Nature Energy before its acquisition by Shell.

“41% of the Danish gas consumption from the last month comes from biomethane. And we expect 100% biomethane coverage in around 2032,” said Lundbye.

She explained the two ends of the financing spectrum – corporate-level loans and project-specific finance – and said a hybrid approach is often the most workable for biogas.

“The green transition, and especially within the biogas industry, really requires significant capital investment, and it requires access to debt financing. It’s critical for scaling, and that’s why lenders … play a key role,” she said.

Certification as a financing tool

Andrew Brown from the World Biogas Association said certification is essential to improving operational performance and securing investment. The WBA’s AD Certification Scheme focuses on three core areas.

“We’ve identified three areas here for our certification scheme that we’re working on – sustainable design and operations, health and safety, and operational efficiency,” he said.

He highlighted recent data from the UK showing that actual biomethane output falls short of its theoretical capacity.

“We’re seeing it’s about 13 terawatt hours per annum that is being produced and run… so we must think, where’s that two terawatt hours per annum missing?” he said.

A study by the National Physics Laboratory pointed to methane leaks, with some sites losing up to 14.2% of their output.

“There it is, it’s leaking from your digesters, perhaps,” said Brown. “Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas… not only is that not bankable, that is not sustainable.”

He added, “Keep it in the pipe… that’s not just process safety. It’s also value for money, bankability.”

Brazil’s market shows how structure builds confidence

Luciano Figureredo from Instituto Toton shared how Brazil is using both voluntary and regulated certificate schemes to attract investment into biomethane projects. The voluntary system, known as I-Track G, allows producers to sell certificates that prove emissions reductions.

“If you don’t know, when you compare the natural gas with biomethane, you are reducing around 99% of the emissions,” he said.

He explained that a new government-led scheme, C-GOB, is also being introduced for the regulated market, where natural gas producers like Petrobras will be required to purchase biomethane certificates.

“Most of the banks, they do not trust the voluntary market,” he said. “But if Petrobras is obligated to buy the certificate every single year, it’s better… It’s better to get money from the bank instead of selling to PepsiCo, I’m going to sell to Petrobras in a contract for 10 years.”

Luciano said both systems could co-exist, giving producers a choice based on which offers greater financial stability.