BMP testingStraws and crop residues

Sugarcane bagasse — BMP: 10 studies, weighted mean 205 m³ CH₄/t VS

Bagasse is a fibrous waste left after pressing sugar cane. Rich in lignocellulose, it requires size reduction and often pretreatment to perform well in the digestion chamber.

rating: good CH₄ ≈ 51 % (estimate)

Published 6 August 2026Updated 29 October 20263 min readFeedstockData Editorial Team

Photo Anna Frodesiak / Wikimedia Commons, licence CC0 1.0, source file; changes: cropping

Weighted mean: 205m³ CH₄/t VS
Range: 76–326m³ CH₄/t VS
Records: 10studies
Publications: 6sources
Temperatures: 35 °C, 37 °C, 38 °Cof the test

Methane in biogas

≈51–52% CH₄

Low methane content · ≈ 5.1 kWh/m³ of biogas

estimate from the substrate type The collected studies contain no measurement. The interval follows from the approximate composition (protein from total nitrogen (N 0.2 % DM × 6.25)) and the yields of compound groups according to FNR.

How we calculate it and what the zones mean

Rating for biogas plants

good — editorial rating for biogas plantsStable, usually accepted without a fee

Potential per tonne of fresh matter: high (98 m³ CH₄/t); no particular threats to stability. Handling costs: fibres, floating layer, slow degradation.

Why? Rating factors

Potential per tonne +2

+2potential 98 m³ CH₄/t fresh matter (BMP 205 × DM 52.2 % × VS 92 %)

Process stability 0

0no factors

Handling and costs −1

−0.5fibres, floating layer — shredding and intensive mixing
−0.5slow degradation — long retention time

Total points: 1 · thresholds: ≥ 2.5 very good, ≥ 1 good, below — neutral; negative with cumulative process risk.

Editorial rating per the methodology · confidence of the rating: high · excluding market prices

Add to the co-digestion calculator CSV data

BMP curves from 10 studies

Weighted mean Individual records

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 (205); 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

Source	BMP m³ CH₄/t VS	Temperature	Sample	Curve
Pereira et al. (2026) · 1 DOI	246	37 °C · mesophilic	sugar cane bagasse (SCB) 100%, treatment T4 (S/I 1.0, TS 12.5%)	end point (model curve)
Pereira et al. (2026) · 2 DOI	267	37 °C · mesophilic	sugar cane bagasse (SCB) 100%, treatment T1 (S/I 0.5, TS 10%)	end point (model curve)
Talha et al. (2016) DOI	76	37 °C · mesophilic	sugarcane bagasse, untreated (0 min), 100%	end point (model curve)
Rahman et al. (2019) DOI	205	35 °C · mesophilic	sugarcane bagasse (SB)	end point (model curve)
Janke et al. (2015) · 1 DOI	236	38 °C · mesophilic	sugarcane bagasse B-2	end point (model curve)
Janke et al. (2015) · 2 DOI	326	38 °C · mesophilic	sugarcane bagasse B-1	end point (model curve)
Lallement et al. (2023) · 1 DOI	174	38 °C · mesophilic	bagasse	end point (model curve)
Lallement et al. (2023) · 2 DOI	188	38 °C · mesophilic	bagasse	end point (model curve)
Lallement et al. (2023) · 3 DOI	251	38 °C · mesophilic	bagasse	end point (model curve)
López-Dávila et al. (2022) DOI	207	—	Sugar cane bagasse	end point (model curve)
Weighted mean	205	arithmetic mean 218, SD 66

Typical composition

Dry matter (DM): 52.2% (range 43.2–56.7)
Volatile solids (VS): 92 % DM (range 73–95)
Nitrogen: 0.2 % DM
C/N ratio: 428

Median and range of the determinations reported in the publications behind this substrate's BMP records (read from: MY-D); dry matter: 3 determinations, volatile solids: 3 determinations. C/N was calculated as the ratio of C and N content (% DM) from the same source.

Sources: Lallement et al. (2023).

The composition of the raw material varies between batches — for plant calculations use an analysis of your own sample. The calculator inserts typical values automatically.

Process properties

fibrous
slowly degrading
carbon-rich
low in nitrogen
seasonal
high dry matter
editorial classification

Advantages

Methane potential in the database: weighted mean 205 m³ CH₄/t VS (median 222; range 76-326; 10 records from 6 sources).
Mixing with filter mud improves the N balance: C/N 24.7 at a mud:bagasse ratio of 25:75 versus 9.68 for the mud alone (Talha 2016).

Drawbacks and risks

High content of lignin and crystalline cellulose: low conversion and a long degradation time (review by Hendriks 2009).
Spread of results in the database: standard deviation 66 at a mean of 218 m³ CH₄/t VS (10 records from 6 sources).

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

combines well
Sugarcane filter cake / press mud
Filter cake from the sugar factory supplies N and P, and bagasse supplies structure and carbon; mixture C/N 24.7 at 25:75 (Talha 2016).^[1]
combines well
group: Animal excreta (slurry, manure, poultry litter)
Slurry/manure supplement N and buffer (Pereira 2026: co-digestion of bagasse in a solid-state system).^[2]

Dosing

The sources do not give a maximum share; Talha 2016 shows a bagasse:filter mud ratio of 75:25 as favourable from the C/N point of view (not as a process limit).

Practical requirements

Shred: shredding increases the surface available for degradation and speeds it up, but does not necessarily raise the final gas yield (FNR 2010, Ch. 3 “Triturado”).
Control floating crust and sediment: when solids are fed directly into the digester, the risk of their formation depends on the substrate (FNR 2010, Ch. 3).
Alkaline pretreatment raises the result (Talha 2016)

Sources of the process data

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

What it is and where it comes from

Bagasse (sugar cane pressings) is the fibrous mass left after the juice has been pressed from sugar cane stalks in a sugar mill. It arises in large quantities wherever cane is grown, mainly in the tropical and subtropical zones. In Poland it does not occur as a local waste, because sugar here is produced from beet. Traditionally, bagasse is burned in sugar mill boilers to provide heat and electricity, and methane fermentation is one of the investigated routes for utilising surpluses.

Properties relevant to digestion

Bagasse is a lignocellulosic material: cellulose and hemicellulose dominate, and a significant part of the dry matter is lignin. Lignin is not degraded under anaerobic conditions and shields polysaccharides from enzymes, so hydrolysis is slow and part of the organic matter remains in the digestate. The material is dry and absorbent and has a high C/N ratio, so when bagasse is digested on its own nitrogen is lacking and it is advisable to combine it with a protein-rich substrate, for example animal excreta. A high fibre content promotes scum formation and floating of particles. A technological risk is mineral contamination (sand, soil from the field), which settles at the bottom of the digestion chamber.

How to read the spread of results

The samples tested come from different studies and countries, and some of the records are variants of a single experiment with a different substrate-to-inoculum ratio (S/I) and different dry matter content. The result is affected by: the cane variety, the thoroughness of juice extraction (the more thorough, the fewer residual sugars in the bagasse), particle size and inoculum quality. This compilation includes records without pretreatment; material after chemical or thermal treatment is a separate matter and may give completely different results. Because lignocellulose kinetics are slow, the result also depends on whether the test was ended after a dozen or so days or after several dozen.

In biogas plant practice

Bagasse is a seasonal substrate and requires storage, because sugar mills operate in campaigns. Before feeding it must be size-reduced, and in industrial installations pretreatment (hydrothermal, steam, chemical or enzymatic) is considered if the economic balance allows it. It works best as a component of a mix with slurry or another moist substrate, which provides nitrogen and buffering. Scum in the digester and the load on the mixing system should be monitored. The content of residual sugars, moisture and contaminants can differ considerably between sugar mills, so before contracting a batch it is worth carrying out your own BMP test.

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 = 0.136 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

All sources of the site: bibliography.