title: Towards a standardization of biomethane potential tests.
abstract: Production of biogas from different organic materials is a most interesting source of renewable energy. The biomethane potential (BMP) of these materials has to be determined to get insight in design parameters for anaerobic digesters. Although several norms and guidelines for BMP tests exist, inter-laboratory tests regularly show high variability of BMPs for the same substrate. A workshop was held in June 2015, in Leysin, Switzerland, with over 40 attendees from 30 laboratories around the world, to agree on common solutions to the conundrum of inconsistent BMP test results. This paper presents the consensus of the intense roundtable discussions and cross-comparison of methodologies used in respective laboratories. Compulsory elements for the validation of BMP results were defined. They include the minimal number of replicates, the request to carry out blank and positive control assays, a criterion for the test duration, details on BMP calculation, and last but not least criteria for rejection of the BMP tests. Finally, recommendations on items that strongly influence the outcome of BMP tests such as inoculum characteristics, substrate preparation, test setup, and data analysis are presented to increase the probability of obtaining validated and reproducible results.
authors.affiliation: ENAC IIE Laboratory for Environmental Biotechnology, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland E-mail: christof.holliger@epfl.ch.
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Holliger
authors.affiliation: Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.
authors.forename: Madalena
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authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture, Freising, Germany.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.
authors.forename: Irini
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authors.lastname: Angelidaki
authors.affiliation: Advanced Water Management Center, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Sergi
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authors.lastname: Astals
authors.affiliation: Institute for Chemistry and Biotechnology, ZHAW School of Life Sciences and Facility Management, Wädenswil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Urs
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Baier
authors.affiliation: VERI (Veolia), Limay, France.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bougrier
authors.affiliation: Université de Lyon, INSA-Lyon, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Pierre
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authors.lastname: Buffière
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Technology, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
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authors.lastname: Carballa
authors.affiliation: Sub-Department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Vinnie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: de Wilde
authors.affiliation: Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture, Freising, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ebertseder
authors.affiliation: IRTA, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Belén
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.affiliation: Politecnico di Milano-DICA, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ficara
authors.affiliation: Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fotidis
authors.affiliation: National Research Council Canada, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Jean-Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Frigon
authors.affiliation: Methaconsult, Préverenges, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hélène Fruteau
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: de Laclos
authors.affiliation: Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dara S M
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Ghasimi
authors.affiliation: ENAC IIE Laboratory for Environmental Biotechnology, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland E-mail: christof.holliger@epfl.ch.
authors.forename: Gabrielle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hack
authors.affiliation: Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture, Freising, Germany.
authors.forename: Mathias
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authors.lastname: Hartel
authors.affiliation: Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Joern
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authors.lastname: Heerenklage
authors.affiliation: The Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, University of Borås, Borås, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ilona Sarvari
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Horvath
authors.affiliation: University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jenicek
authors.affiliation: Chair of Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.affiliation: Institute for Chemistry and Biotechnology, ZHAW School of Life Sciences and Facility Management, Wädenswil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krautwald
authors.affiliation: University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Javier
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authors.lastname: Lizasoain
authors.affiliation: Bioprocess Control AB, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jing
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authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Chemistry and Biotechnology, ZHAW School of Life Sciences and Facility Management, Wädenswil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lona
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authors.lastname: Mosberger
authors.affiliation: Bioprocess Control AB, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mihaela
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authors.lastname: Nistor
authors.affiliation: State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oechsner
authors.affiliation: Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.
authors.forename: João Vítor
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Association for Technology and Structures in Agriculture (KTBL), Darmstadt, Germany.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paterson
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, EA 4297 TIMR UTC/ESCOM, Compiègne, France.
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pauss
authors.affiliation: LISBP, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INRA, INSA, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pommier
authors.affiliation: Politecnico di Milano-DICA, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Porqueddu
authors.affiliation: Instituto de la Grasa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Raposo
authors.affiliation: Département des Sciences et Techniques Agro-Industrielles, Institut Polytechnique LaSalle Beauvais, Beauvais, France.
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Institute for Chemistry and Biotechnology, ZHAW School of Life Sciences and Facility Management, Wädenswil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rüsch Pfund
authors.affiliation: Bioprocess Control AB, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Sten
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Strömberg
authors.affiliation: INRA, UR0050, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l'Environnement, Narbonne, France.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Torrijos
authors.affiliation: LeAF, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Miriam
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authors.lastname: van Eekert
authors.affiliation: Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jules
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authors.lastname: van Lier
authors.affiliation: DBFZ Deutsches BiomasseForschungsZentrum, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Harald
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authors.lastname: Wedwitschka
authors.affiliation: OWS nv, Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Isabella
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authors.lastname: Wierinck
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000592:standards; D007753:Laboratories / Q000592:standards; D008697:Methane / Q000032:analysis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D008697:Methane