SOL and Air Liquide projects for bioLNG production

At the end of February and beginning of April, the industrial gas companies SOL and Air Liquide, together with other partners, announced the start of work on their respective bioGNL production plants. Two plants are already in production in Italy: Cooperativa Speranza in Candiolo (TO) and Lucra 96 in Lodi, with a production capacity of just over 7000 cubic metres of bioGNL, using agricultural waste.

The SOL plant will exploit the biogas produced by the closed landfill in Borgo Montello, Latina, owned by Milan-based Greenthesis, which has been active for 30 years in the treatment, recovery and disposal of urban and industrial waste and sludge.

Daniele Forni, sales director of the SOL group, said: "With this agreement SOL will be able to contribute further to the development of sustainable mobility, increasing the group's commitment to an industry with an ever decreasing carbon footprint".

Vincenzo Cimini, CEO of Greenthesis S.p.a., added: "In line with the Group's Strategic Plan aimed at the efficiency and innovation of our production chain, the biomethane transformation plant in Borgo Montello is part of a project that takes on a strategic connotation for the territory and in line with the objectives on sustainable mobility indicated by the European Union for 2030".

Air Liquide, which operates through its subsidiaries Biomethane Green and Energia Verde Truccazzano in collaboration with Cogeser Energia, a multi-utility company based in Melzo (Milan), is instead committed to a plant that will be built in the same city and will be part of a service area for road transport.

The plant will liquefy biomethane produced from agricultural waste and slurry/livestock manure from farms and livestock breeding farms in Truccazzano (Milan) and Fontanella, in the province of Bergamo, local farms that are not far away (2.5 km in the case of Truccazzano and 35 km for Fontanella). With this investment," explained the three companies, "we are continuing our commitment to sustainability and the circular economy".