Technical and Legal Challenges in the Energetic Utilization of Household-Produced Biogas in the European Market

In accordance with the EU Landfill Directive, by 2035, EU countries must reduce the amount of municipal waste sent to landfills to 10% or less of the total municipal waste generated. To achieve this, it is necessary to implement recycling measures, including composting organic waste. Another way to utilize organic waste generated in households is through anaerobic digestion, which produces biogas, a renewable energy source. Biogas production from biodegradable waste generated in households occurs in both industrial facilities and household biogas installations. Producing biogas in household installations offers the advantage of generating and using biogas at the same location where the waste is produced, reducing the need to transport bio-based materials to a storage site. This approach reduces costs and the environmental footprint associated with transporting waste to industrial facilities and subsequently transporting biogas to municipal (domestic) consumers. Although this solution appears optimal in many respects, the current technical and legal environment limits the development of the household biogas production market in EU countries. This article highlights the technical and legal aspects of safely using biogas from household installations (e.g., certification of gas equipment) and legal aspects (such as restrictions on the number of energy sources), which significantly limits the growth of this sector.