Top Photo: Screenshot from the International Energy Agency mapping tool.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has launched a new interactive mapping platform designed to help governments, developers, investors, and utilities identify where biogas and biomethane projects are most likely to succeed. Built using the agency’s Biogases Geospatial Resource Assessment Model (BioGRAM), the tool combines feedstock availability, anaerobic digestion infrastructure, and production cost data to estimate sustainable biogas potential at national, regional, and local scales.
The platform accompanies the IEA’s broader assessment that nearly 900 billion cubic meters of biogas and biomethane could be produced annually from existing organic waste streams, enough to meet more than 20% of today’s global natural gas demand. More than 70% of that technical potential is concentrated in emerging and developing economies, led by India, Brazil, and China, although opportunities exist across every region of the world.
Unlike previous resource assessments that relied on national averages, BioGRAM evaluates more than 40 feedstock types, including crop residues, livestock manure, municipal biowaste, wastewater residuals, and woody biomass. The model identifies where these feedstocks are concentrated and estimates production costs based on proximity to existing roads, gas pipelines, and other infrastructure. Only waste streams that do not compete with food production or animal feed and avoid adverse sustainability impacts are included in the analysis.
Users can zoom into individual countries or regions, draw custom geographic boundaries, and generate estimates of both biogas production potential and development costs by feedstock. The tool is intended to support project screening, infrastructure planning, and policy development by identifying locations where feedstock supply and transportation logistics are most favorable.
The IEA says the platform arrives as interest in renewable natural gas continues to grow. Biomethane production has expanded rapidly in recent years, driven by policies supporting domestic energy production, methane emissions reductions, and waste diversion. According to the agency, the European Union produced nearly 20 billion cubic meters of biogas and biomethane in 2025, avoiding an estimated USD 6 billion in fossil fuel imports. The United States remains the world’s largest biomethane producer, with production more than doubling since 2020.
Still, the IEA cautions that realizing this potential will require more than abundant feedstocks. High capital costs, lengthy permitting processes, inconsistent policy support, and methane leakage throughout the value chain continue to constrain project development. The agency also notes that robust emissions accounting and leak detection will be essential to ensuring biogas systems deliver meaningful climate benefits.
The IEA plans to continue expanding BioGRAM by incorporating additional datasets and analytical capabilities. By making detailed spatial information publicly accessible, the agency hopes the platform will improve investment decisions, support government planning, and accelerate development of biogas and biomethane projects around the world.
