Guide to Implementing an Agricultural bioGNC Gas Station

Read the Guide to implementing an Agricultural bioGNC Gas Station with an on-farm methanisation unit published by RAEE, the Regional Agency for Energy and Environment of Rhône-Alpes [in French].

Agricultural methanization has been developing in France for about ten years, thanks to support mechanisms put in place at national and regional level. The production of biomethane, more recent, is increasing rapidly but can only be injected into the grid. natural gas, for lack of diversified support. Gas is the only mature energy that is a relay technology for transport and particularly the transport of goods. Also the issue of NGV (Natural Gas Vehicles) and its renewable version, BioNGV, is becoming very important to meet the ambitions of the energy transition. Analysts are not mistaken; a projection of the French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) provides that in France, in 2050, 45% of transport energy will be supplied by Vehicle Natural Gas. In rural areas, farmers but also communities are waiting for solutions to ensure energy autonomy and independence from the international context; there too, biogas and its purified version (biomethane) will have an important role to play in the future
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This guide focuses on a specific problem, that of the project leader Dominique RONZON. He is a farmer in Isère and plans to build a biogas unit. He will produce biomethane that it will inject. He also wants to produce a fuel for his territory, serving farmers, neighbours, local businesses and the community. He envisages thus installing a bioCNG pump “on the farm”.


This guide is intended for promoters and those supporting agricultural projects. It has for
objective to lay out, in an educational way, the state of the art of the installation of a service station of this type. It is not exhaustive and aims to set the first elements on the thematic, while alerting on critical points identified on this occasion. The necessary gas could come from:

  • directly from the biogas plant after biogas purification (by canalization or by portage,
  • from the natural gas network by tapping on the pipeline. In this guide we will focus on a service station delivering gaseous biomethane fuel (bioCNG). It will then have to be compressed at high pressure before possibly being stored in bottles, to then be distributed at 200 bars. Liquefied biomethane (bioLNG) does not not covered in this guide.