By Jacob Doyle Hungary is a slave to Russian gas and has only no gas of its own.

So the thinking goes in a country that meets the bulk of both electricity and heating needs by relying on gas imports from Russia. In reality, Hungary has barely begun to tap the potential of its own gas. Not the fossil-variety gas that comes from the ground, but biogas, which can be derived from animal, human and agricultural waste, as well as from special energy crops. By 2010, some 40 MW of electricity could be generated directly from biogas, enough to power the equivalent of 40,000 households. The total near-term energy potential for Hungarian biogas is reckoned to be some 300 MW, according to ITD Hungary. Todays capacity is composed of around 12 MW from sewage treatment and 6 MW from agricultural feedstocks, Attila Kovacs of the Hungarian Biogas Association (HBA) told the Energy Source. A biogas electricity plant at Nyrbtor, near Nyregyhza, produces 40% of Hungarys agricultural biogas. Its 2.5 mw output makes it one of Europes largest capacity individual plants. Just four other smaller agricultural plants currently generate electricity from biogas, Kovacs added. This underutilization has spawned a wave of projects and captured the attention of foreign biogas companies. The coming two to three years will see several biogas projects coming to fruition, said Kovacs. So far 39 animal farms have received subsidies to build biogas production facilities to co-generate both electricity and heat. Kovacs explained that EU funding has been drawn to help pay for these new facilities, which will cost some EUR 60m to build. Hungarys farm ministry announced this Spring that a pair of biogas plants in southwest Hungary would receive state subsidies of nearly EUR 8m, roughly half of the total investment required. Biogas produced from just 50% of Hungarys animal waste alone, Kovacs estimated, could generate 40 MW of electricity by 2010. Add sewage, waste from foodstuff production and slaughterhouses and the capacity grows. Throw in non-animal farm waste and custom energy crops and the capacity climbs much further still. Kovacs agrees with German biogas technology provider Consentis that Hungarys agriculture holds the greatest feedstock potential for biogas, followed by sewers and landfills. Consentis, which entered the Hungarian market this year, has high hopes and big plans for biogas in Hungary. It estimates that less than 10% of domestic potential has been realized, adding that in Hungary 15 million cubic meters of liquid manure from livestock as well as 300,000 tons of slaughter waste accumulate annually, which can be utilized in biogas plants. HBAs Attila Kovacs sees opportunities for investors amidst the underutilization. Biogas produced from waste costs no more than natural gas to produce, he said, and unlike natural gas, it benefits from subsidies. A 10 MW plant could be built in Hungary to produce electricity and heat for an investment of EUR 25m to 30m, he estimated. This would put it in the expensive bracket of 10 MW power plants, but with subsidies pitched in to cover as much as half the costs, it begins to look more attractive. Larger investments could cover the cost of a chain of facilities, Kovacs added, and could push the technology further, bringing in capacity to produce bio-methane or the utilization of energy crops. HBA could facilitate the investment and research the possibilities, he explained, adding that HBA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote biogas in Hungary.