Energy, Estonia, Markets and Companies

Enterprise Estonia Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre Acting Director Tiina Kalju said that the amount of energy argillite contains exceeds the amount of energy in Estonia's main mineral energy source, oil shale, by six times and the amount in oil shale that is mined by 30 times. "Producing biogenic methane gas from argillite has so far received little attention, because the rock's organic matter content is lower than that of oil shale. The results of the newly conducted survey, however, demonstrate that it is possible to produce local biogenic methane gas from argillite underground, in drilled wells, using the normal living activities of microorganisms," explained Kalju.

Five months of initial testing with Estonian Geology Centre samples has already produced positive results. In laboratory conditions, 25 grams of argillite yielded 0.5 liters of biogenic gas with 28% methane content. Studies continue in order to guarantee environment-friendliness of the technology and increase the efficiency of methane production process.

With new tests, 7.5 liters of methane per kilogram of argillite has been achieved. Traditionally the argillite's methane yield is considered to be 1.6 liters per kilogram of rock.