Currently, the Canary Islands are not equipped to manage the waste generated by the booming tourist activity, forcing large producers to deliver their waste to landfills. ATH Bioenergy’s biomethane plants provide a local and sustainable solution for waste treatment and energy supply to major hospitality and industrial players.

The islands remain heavily dependent on fossil fuel imports which jeopardise the territory’s carbon footprint targets and imply significant operational costs for businesses.  Currently, the hotel industry accounts for about 35% of propane imports in the Canary Islands.

The current regulatory framework supports and enhances ATH Bioenergy’s initiative. Waste Law 7/22 obliges large producers of organic waste, including hotels, to recycle or reuse at least 55% of their waste by 2025. The main regulations, the Technical Building Code (CTE) and the Regulation of Thermal Installations in Buildings (RITE), oblige thermal installations to use at least 70% renewable energy to heat swimming pools and domestic hot water.

On a larger scale, biomethane plays an important role in achieving the EU’s decarbonisation targets, as well as reducing the EU’s dependence on fossil fuel imports, while reducing exposure to volatile natural gas prices. Furthermore, the use of digestate as a fertiliser closes the nutrient cycle in regional ecosystems and avoids CO2 emissions that would be released due to the production of mineral fertilisers. The EU has set a target of producing 35 billion* cubic metres (35 bcm) of biomethane annually by 2030.