Quick recap

This article provides an update on the current status of CS3, one of the three European Biomethane Innovation Ecosystems (EBIEs) within the SEMPRE-BIO consortium.

CS3 takes place at the Masscheleyn dairy farm in Adinkerke, West Flanders (Belgium), where an anaerobic digestion plant processes cattle manure and co-substrates, producing over 110 m³ of biogas per hour. Partners CryoInox, Innolab and Ghent University have collaborated on the implementation of a cryogenic upgrading demo plant that converts raw biogas into two products: bio-LNG and liquid CO₂. For a full description of CS3, the best starting point is the original case study article on the SEMPRE-BIO website.

Key milestones Achieved

Several important milestones have now been reached:

• Demo plant installation and start-up: The cryogenic upgrading plant was delivered, installed and started up as a complete system in a real operational environment. The key functions of the cryogenic process have been successfully tested.
• First industrial-grade CO₂ batch produced and bottled: In July 2025, the first batch of industrial-grade CO₂ was produced and analysed by a certified laboratory. This is a concrete milestone that confirms the plant’s ability to separate CO₂ from raw biogas through an integrated cleaning process.
• Resolution of initial operational issues: Leakages were fixed, compressors maintained, refrigerant added, and control valves replaced. The system is currently operating correctly in a real-world context.

Next steps

CS3 has now entered its optimisation and validation phase. From January 2026, the team has been systematically applying the optimisations identified in the preceding months, with the goal of improving the quality of the produced molecules and bringing the plant toward stable, monitorable operation over a sufficiently long period.

This phase is aimed at collecting reliable and structured data for the validation of the project KPIs: production cost per Nm³ of biomethane, utilities consumption, and a minimum processing capacity of 50 Nm³/h. In parallel, certified laboratory analyses are being prepared for the formal validation of the quality of the biomethane and CO₂ produced.

Long-term vision

CS3 aims to bring cryoseparation, appropriately downsized, to small-scale agricultural applications, a segment often excluded from traditional industrial solutions. The province of West Flanders has approximately 8,000 farms: a compact and replicable system like the one demonstrated in Adinkerke could open a concrete pathway for valorising agricultural biogas in regions with high livestock density.

The approach is circular: digestate becomes fertiliser in France, liquid CO₂ feeds microalgae cultivation in Belgium, and bio-LNG can serve as fuel for the farm’s own agricultural vehicles. The data collected will feed into the final report D3.3, contributing to the techno-economic foundation for the broader deployment of this technology in the European biomethane market.

For more information, check the Case Study 3 video here: