Air Liquide sells its first biogas purification unit for a solid waste treatment plant in Brazil

Air Liquide will design, construct, and deliver its first solid waste gas to biomethane purification unit in Latin America at the Cariacica (ES) landfill. The site, owned and operated by Marca Ambiental, receives half of all the waste produced in Espirito Santo, Brazil. The new facility will be capable of taking that waste and processing 2,500 cubic meters per hour of biogas into biomethane. At this rate, the site will have a total production capacity of 155 GWh/ per year of biomethane, which can be injected into the natural gas pipeline to provide energy to the local community. The site is expected to be operational by the second half of 2025.

Air Liquide has developed competencies throughout the whole biomethane value chain, starting with biogas production from waste, to its purification into biomethane to be injected into gas grids or compression/liquefaction with storage and transportation to customers. This industrial-scale biomethane production unit complements Air Liquide’s existing biogas equipment offerings in Latin America. In Brazil, the Group offers the AG050 and AG100 biostations, which process biogas produced by onsite farm waste at rural properties into biomethane. Globally, Air Liquide currently has 26 operational biomethane production units for a yearly production capacity of about 1.8 TWh.  

Caio Mogyca, Director of Development of New Business Models - South America. “The opportunity to bring a technology already established in other countries where the Air Liquide Group is present to the local market demonstrates the potential of our solutions for a more sustainable low-carbon future. We want to continue to put our knowledge and experience at the service of this commitment.”

Diogo Ribeiro, Director of Renewable Energy at Grupo Marca. “We chose Air Liquide to be our partner in this project due to its consolidated experience in developing sustainable solutions that apply to the most diverse business profiles, in addition to having in common a commitment to values such as respect for the environment and the consolidation of the energy transition.”