## 5 Results and Discussions
### Barriers, Drivers and Policies Regarding Biomethane Deployment  
Despite the huge potential for biomethane in the GCC region, the deployment of biogas and biomethane recovery and utilization is hindered by several barriers which can be summarized into technical, economic, and policy barriers. Infrastructural challenges such as the lack of pipelines and connections from wastewater plants to the national gas grid are major challenges. Additionally, the co-digestion of sludge would require an appropriate waste management system for the collection, segregation and storage of waste, all of which are under-developed waste management options in the GCC region. The composition of biogas varies according to the operating parameters (including temperature, retention time, input rate) and consequently creating inconsistent heat content of biogas across differing biogas plants or seasonal variations. The investment costs of biogas installations and the lack of economic incentives create further barriers to the deployment of biomethane as a source of energy. The construction and equipment costs, along with the treatment and transportation of biomass, can negatively impact the budget of a biogas plant. A study by Fraunhofer ISE, ref. [60] compared the costs of various renewable energy technologies in Germany using the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), given differing plant capacities, life spans and capital costs. The study found that the LCOE of biogas plants remains higher than wind and solar PV installations, where the LCOE of biogas is 10.17-14.74 \(\xi_{\text{cents}}\)/kwh while wind and solar PV costs were 3.71-13.79 \(\xi_{\text{cents}}\)/kwh. In addition, the lack of government invectives such as financial support and loans render biogas projects less attractive to investors and this contributes to the low adoption rate of biogas technologies. In order to promote biogas deployment and recovery, several economic incentives can be applied to offset the high investment costs and provide other revenue streams to the WWTP or biogas facility. Feed-in tariffs for electricity generated from biogas, together with subsidies for using feedstocks, such as wastewater sludge or other forms \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Fuel**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Combustion Emissions (kg)**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Sludge Disposal Emission (kg)**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Total GHG Emissions**} \\ \cline{2-2} \cline{4-6}  & **CO\({}_{2}\)** & **NOx** & **CH\({}_{4}\)** & **CH\({}_{4}\)** & **CO\({}_{2}\)** & **(M.T CO\({}_{2}\) Equivalent)** \\ \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{Base scenario: Hydrocarbon combustion + sludge disposal} \\ Natural Gas & 25,032,116 & 47 & 342 & 280,218 \\ Crude oil & 35,637,506 & 283 & 1026 & 9,677,211 & 13,230,000 & 290,918 \\ Gas Oil & 35,455,008 & 283 & 1026 & & 290,625 \\ HFO & 38,175,628 & 283 & 1026 & & 293,456 \\  & & Alternative scenario: Biomethane combustion & & & \\ Biomethane & 26,128,469 & 283 & 0 & 0 & 13,230,000 & 39,443 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 8: Emissions comparison between using fossil fuels and biomethane in Kuwait’s power plants. of biomass, can incentivize the deployment of biogas technologies. Additionally, carbon credits and trading can provide an alternative revenue stream for biogas facilities, as biogas recovery avoids potential CH4 emissions from landfills and displaces fossil fuels. A sustainable deployment of biogas recovery from wastewater sludge is dependent on policies regarding the water, energy, and environmental sectors. Recovered biogas from AD in WWTPs is a renewable source of energy and is a substitute to natural gas in its upgraded form (biomethane). Thus, renewable energy targets requiring a fraction of the energy mix to be met with biogas, can promote the generation of a considerable volume of renewable biomethane in the GCC region from wastewater sludge and other organic waste.