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BMP testingFruit, vegetables and their residues

Grapevine leaves — BMP: 2 studies, weighted mean 292 m³ CH₄/t VS

Grapevine leaves are a waste from vineyards and processing; records from different studies and temperatures (55 °C and about 38 °C) show the effect of test conditions on the result.

CH₄ ≈ 52 % (estimate)

Published Updated 3 min readFeedstockData Editorial Team

Photo W.carter / Wikimedia Commons, licence CC0 1.0, source file; changes: cropping

Weighted mean
292m³ CH₄/t VS
Range
214–370m³ CH₄/t VS
Records
2studies
Publications
2sources
Temperatures
38 °C, 55 °Cof the test

Methane in biogas

Medium methane content · ≈ 5.2 kWh/m³ of biogas

estimate from the substrate type The collected studies contain no measurement. The interval follows from the approximate composition (carbohydrate-dominated (no protein or fat characteristics)) and the yields of compound groups according to FNR.

How we calculate it and what the zones mean

Rating for biogas plants

not rated — editorial rating for biogas plants

Not rated: no dry matter or volatile solids in the data. We calculate the rating when the dry matter and volatile solids of the material are known.

Editorial rating per the methodology

Add to the co-digestion calculator CSV data

BMP curves from 2 studies

Weighted mean Individual records

BMP curves: Grapevine leavesCumulative methane production over time for 2 records and the weighted mean of 292 m³ CH₄/t VS. 2 of the curves are model curves (first-order kinetics).0100200300400051015202530time [d]m³ CH₄/t VSDa Ros et al. (2016): 370 m³ CH₄/t VS (model curve)Dubrovskis i Plume (2021): 214 m³ CH₄/t VS (model curve)mean292

Dashed lines are a model curve (first-order kinetics, B(t) = B₀·(1 − e−kt)); the end point comes from the publication. All curves are model curves.

Cumulative methane production over the test [m³ CH₄/t VS]. The thick line is the weighted mean of all records (292); dots mark the end values given in the publications. Point at the chart to read values; click a legend item to hide or show a record.

Records and sources

Download CSV
SourceBMP
m³ CH₄/t VS		TemperatureSampleCurve
Da Ros et al. (2016) DOI37055 °C · thermophilicgrapeend point (model curve)
Dubrovskis i Plume (2021) DOI21438 °C · mesophilicGrape leavesend point (model curve)
Weighted mean292arithmetic mean 292, SD 110

Process properties

  • dilutes the feed (low DM)
  • seasonal
  • poor in trace elements
  • variable composition
  • fibrous
  • editorial classification

Low confidence: the description is based on general characteristics of the substrate group, not on studies of this material. Treat it as a hint to be verified.

Advantages

  • Methane yield in the compendium: median 292 (range 214-370) m³ CH₄/t VS, 2 records from 2 studies (weighted mean 292).
  • Winery residues were studied in thermophilic batch and continuous digestion (Da Ros et al. (2016))

Co-digestion — what to combine it with, what to watch out for

Dosing

No source limits on the dose for this substrate.

Sources of the process data

  1. Improvement of fruit and vegetable waste anaerobic digestion performance and stability with co-substrates addition
  2. Renewable energy from thermophilic anaerobic digestion of winery residue: Preliminary evidence from batch and continuous lab-scale trials
  3. Methane potential from household garden leaves
  4. Effects of size and thermophilic pre-hydrolysis of banana peel during anaerobic digestion, and biomethanation potential of key tropical fruit wastes
  5. Effect of particle size on biogas generation from biomass residues

The co-digestion calculator will assess a specific mixture containing this substrate.

What it is and where it comes from

The grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is grown in Europe mainly for its grapes, and the leaves are an accompanying waste: they arise during green operations in vineyards (removing leaves from around the grape clusters), after harvest and in home gardens. Some leaves are also collected for culinary purposes. In Poland there are few vineyards and they are small, so the stream is local and seasonal. The dataset contains several records from several studies.

Properties relevant to digestion

Leaves contain considerably less lignin than grapevine shoots and wood, but they contain polyphenols, including tannins and flavonoids, which at high concentrations can limit the activity of microorganisms. They are also a source of protein and mineral compounds. They may carry pesticide residues on the surface (e.g. copper and sulphur preparations used in vineyards), which should be taken into account when assessing the quality of the digestate. Shredded leaves mix well with other plant substrates.

How to read the spread of results

The records come from different studies and different temperatures: one study used thermophilic conditions and the other mesophilic, which in itself changes the result and the rate of digestion. The grape variety, the harvest date (young and old leaves differ in composition), the share of petioles, the health of the plants, drying and the inoculum also have an effect. For these reasons, figures from the literature should be treated as a comparative framework, not as a fixed characteristic of the material.

In biogas plant practice

Grapevine leaves are rather a minor addition, not a substrate on which to plan production. Cost-effectiveness is limited by dispersion and seasonality. If a biogas plant is located near a vineyard, the leaves can go into the mix together with grape pomace and prunings, although the latter material has completely different properties. Before using a batch, it is worth checking for pesticide residues and running a BMP test for your own mixture.

Methodology in brief

BMP is the amount of methane obtained from volatile solids (VS) in a batch test, given in m³ CH₄ per tonne of VS (numerically the same as NmL CH₄/g VS in the publications) and converted to normal conditions (0 °C, 101.325 kPa). The weighted mean gives each publication a total weight of 1, split equally between its results for the substrate — a paper testing twenty varieties does not outweigh a paper with a single sample. In inter-laboratory programmes the unit is the laboratory (total weight 1), and within it the weight of a test grows with the number of bottles (replicates). Results after pretreatment (e.g. thermal, chemical, enzymatic) are shown separately and are not included in the mean.

Solid lines are curves measured in the tests. Where a publication gives only the final result, we draw a first-order kinetic model, B(t) = B₀·(1 − e−kt): only the end point comes from the publication, and the shape of the curve serves purely as visualisation — do not read the production on a particular day from it. For this substrate k = 0.245 d−1 was assumed (median of rate constants k reported in the sources and/or fitted to the mean measured curves).

The statistics describe the spread of published results — a descriptive compilation, not a meta-analysis or a guarantee of plant yield.

Full methodology and correction policy

Bibliography

  1. Da Ros, C.; Cavinato, C.; Bolzonella, D.; Pavan, P. (2016). Renewable energy from thermophilic anaerobic digestion of winery residue: Preliminary evidence from batch and continuous lab-scale trials. Biomass and Bioenergy 91, 150–159. DOI: 10.1016/j.biombioe.2016.05.017 DOI
  2. Dubrovskis, V.; Plume, I. (2021). Methane potential from household garden leaves. Engineering for Rural Development 20. DOI: 10.22616/erdev.2021.20.tf307 DOI

All sources of the site: bibliography.

Other substrates in the group “Fruit, vegetables and their residues”