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The economics of biogas are coming under renewed scrutiny as wind and solar continue to get cheaper. A 2026 paper published in ENGINEERING Environment argues that biogas should not be evaluated as if it were simply another renewable electricity technology. Over the past decade, wind and solar costs have fallen dramatically, while bioenergy costs have remained largely flat. According to the analysis, global weighted-average bioenergy costs edged from $0.086/kWh to $0.087/kWh, while wind and solar experienced much steeper declines.
What Drive Biogas Costs
Solar panels and wind turbines benefit from standardized hardware, mass manufacturing and economies of scale. Once installed, their “fuel” is free. Biogas facilities, by contrast, continue to carry substantial recurring costs tied to feedstock procurement, preprocessing, transportation and plant operations. The researchers estimate that the digester itself accounts for only about 20% to 40% of total biomethane production costs.
A larger anaerobic digester (AD) or better equipment may improve efficiency, but those capital improvements cannot eliminate the ongoing expense of sourcing and managing feedstocks. Food waste, manure and other organics are inherently local, variable materials. Their economics depend on hauling distance, contamination, preprocessing requirements, tipping fees and the availability of nearby generators.
Feedstock availability can also become a constraint. The paper points to Germany, where energy crops grown for biogas occupied 1.35 million hectares in 2024. Expanding crop-based biomethane production further could increase competition for agricultural land.
The authors’ conclusion is not that biogas lacks value. Rather, they argue that its strongest case may be where it delivers benefits that wind and solar cannot easily replace. Said another way, anaerobic digestion can provide food waste and manure management, methane reduction, nutrient recovery, dispatchable energy and access to existing gas infrastructure. The study notes that AD can also significantly reduce pathogens in livestock manure and help avoid agricultural methane emissions.
The takeaway is less “biogas versus solar” and more “use biogas where its full value stack matters.” Projects built primarily around commodity electricity may struggle to compete. Projects that combine avoided disposal costs, organics recycling, environmental compliance, renewable gas value and other co-benefits may have a much stronger case. Biogas is unlikely to win by copying the economics of wind and solar. Its advantage lies in solving problems those technologies cannot.
