Due to the revised Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) of 2004, the number of biogas plants in agriculture has increased considerably. However, a proper planning and improvement of the technological optimization of the biogas systems is not done in a desirable extent. Results of the biogas measurement program, operator discussions and experiences of actors in the field of biogas production and utilization revealed clear deficits in biogas plants. Although knowledge, ideas and measures exist for plant improvement, so far lacked mandatory requirements and standards. Now the German Biomass Research Centre (Leipzig) and the Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Institute of Agricultural Technology and Biosystems Engineering (Braunschweig), developed a criteria and evaluation catalogue for a targeted increase in the quality of planning, construction and operation of biogas plants that addresses this situation. This catalogue is available as a web-based tool that allows the user to input various parameters and the response to a variety of issues, and also provides an assessment of the biogas from the technical, economic and environmental view (www.dbfz.de). The evaluation provides evidence of serious errors or exclusion criteria. Also a comprehensive manual with additional comments as a supplement of the web tool has been developed. These instructions can avoid errors in the system planning and in dealing with agricultural biogas plants.
