Sublime Energie unveils its biogas liquefaction technology

Emerging from the Energy Environment Processes Center (CEEP) at the prestigious engineering school Mines Paris-PSL, startup Sublime Energie is revolutionizing biogas valorization with a unique technology: biogas liquefaction. By efficiently transporting and pooling biogas produced by multiple farms, this technology reduces initial investments and operating costs. Therefore, it opens access to untapped biomass resources, increases the resilience of farms and territories, and provides a decarbonization pathway for the agricultural and transport sectors. Sublime Energie democratizes biogas production for isolated or small farms and creates local supply chains for biomethane and bioCO₂.

Over 80% of biomass is held by farmers, yet biogas sector development is hindered by the limited profitability of traditional technologies and the mismatch between potential biogas production sites and their consumption locations. Co-generation, the oldest method, has limited profitability due to low engine efficiency.Biomethane injection into gas networks, on the other hand, involves costly purification and connection steps requiring high flow rates. This excludes small or remote farms which represent an estimated additional potential of nearly 26 TWh of renewable energy by 2050. Sublime Energie addresses these challenges by offering a third biogas valorization pathway suitable for low flow rates, making these positive-impact units profitable.

Sublime Energie’s technology is based on an innovative biogas liquefaction process directly on the farm. By introducing a carrier agent into the biogas, the company overcomes technical constraints related to mixture crystallization. This process is protected by the company’s first patent. The second patent covers the centralized purification phase, where the three substances are separated before mutual valorization. 

The technological maturation program

Sublime Energie has reached a crucial phase of its technological maturation. After a successful proof of concept (POC) in 2020, the company worked on the engineering, manufacturing, and commissioning of its first demonstrator at CEEP. This demonstrator aims to mitigate the two main technological barriers: biogas liquefaction at a representative flow rate and the separation of purified methane and CO₂ for separate valorization as BioLNG and BioCO₂. Technical results are promising, achieving liquefaction of a ternary mixture with a predefined final composition corresponding to biogas with 50% CH4 and 50% CO₂. This composition was verified through gas chromatography measurements, with a 2% deviation due to measurement uncertainty. The solid CO₂ formation temperature appears experimentally lower than the theoretical model, with a deviation of about 4°C, confirming the model’s conservativeness regarding freezing.

Following the necessary technical validations, Sublime Energie is designing a second demonstrator to be installed at the Gazéa methanization site in Côtes-d’Armor, France’s Bretagne region, in 2025. The first commercial series installation is planned for the end of 2026, pooling production from about ten methanizers.

Bruno Adhemar, President and Co-founder of Suublime Energie, says: “With a unique technology, we offer a solution to democratize profitable on-farm biogas production. This virtuous model valorizes untapped biomass, decarbonizing farms that are far from the grid or small in size. Our field-adapted approach takes into account appropriate investments for farmers through equipment pooling and local job creation without significant additional workload. By physically and locally valorizing all productions, we offer a comprehensive and sustainable solution for the future of agriculture, addressing current social and environmental crises.”