Biogas means a gas produced by anaerobic digestion or fermentation of organic matter. Organic matter can be manure, sewage sludge, municipal solid waste, biodegradable waste or any other biodegradable raw material. Biogas is mainly methane and carbon dioxide.
Depending on where it is produced, biogas is also called:
•Swamp gas
•Marsh gas
• landfill gas
•Digester gas
Biogas can be used as fuel for a vehicle or to generate electricity. It can also be directly burned for cooking, heating, lighting, process heat and absorption cooling.
The production of biogas by anaerobic digestion is very popular for the treatment of biodegradable wastes, since valuable fuel can be produced while disease-causing pathogens are destroyed and the volume of waste disposed of is reduced. Methane in biogas burns cleaner than coal, and produces more energy with less carbon dioxide emissions. Biogas collection is an important waste management role because methane is a greenhouse gas with a greater potential for global warming than carbon dioxide. Carbon from biogas was recently extracted from the atmosphere by photosynthetic plants, so releasing it into the atmosphere adds less total atmospheric carbon than burning fossil fuels.