Biolectric Is Making Manure Pay in a Big Way

Biolectric's container-sized biomethane system cuts costs by around 50%, bringing clean gas within reach of Europe's smaller farms 

1 May 2026

In most of rural Europe, the daily output of a dairy herd ends up spread on fields or stored in lagoons. A company based in Belgium thinks it should end up in the gas grid instead.

Biolectric has built a biomethane system compact enough to fit inside a shipping container. Unlike conventional biogas plants, which typically require imported crops and regulatory hurdles to match, it runs on fresh manure alone. A carbon filter, automated feeding mechanism, and proprietary control unit do most of the work. The farmer's daily burden amounts to roughly a quarter of an hour.

The economics, long the barrier that kept smaller farms out of the biogas market, have been redrawn. The company claims its design costs around half as much as conventional alternatives. That matters because the average European dairy operation has historically fallen below the scale at which a traditional biogas investment makes financial sense. Biolectric also proposes a cluster arrangement, linking smaller farms through shared pipelines to a single upgrading unit, which extends the model's reach further still.

On a farm of 80 cows, the company calculates that one installation offsets methane-equivalent emissions tied to roughly 110 cars annually. The system also insulates farmers from swings in fossil fuel prices by generating electricity and heat on site, while the treated residue qualifies as certified biofertiliser, offering a second source of income.

Not everyone is persuaded that expansion is without complication. Critics note that manure-based biomethane at scale could entrench intensive livestock operations, since larger farms are better placed to supply feedstocks in bulk. Questions about methane leakage during the upgrading process and the management of digestate deserve more scrutiny than they typically receive.

The broader stakes are considerable. The European Union has set a target of 35 billion cubic metres of biomethane by 2030, a goal that cannot be met through large installations alone. Confirmed deployments in Britain are expected in 2026. Whether the containerised model proves replicable at speed remains to be seen. But if it does, the humble slurry pit may turn out to be one of the continent's more productive pieces of energy infrastructure.