Green Gold Int. is a manufacturing company specializing in the circular economy of wine-making. We source raw materials that are by-products of wineries and vineyards and turn them into high-value-added products. One of our final outputs is agro biopellets, made from grape skins and vine shoots.
The company’s first objective, upon its starting out in 2018 as a pilot project, was to find ways to process grape pomace so as to produce cold-pressed oil from the grape seeds present in the marc. After setting up the right technology and eventually producing its first batch of fine cold-pressed extra virgin grape seed oil, we aspired to develop the technology further. What we wanted from the pomace were the seeds, but there was a larger share of it left as skins which were now a by-product on our grounds. We set out to employ these.
Our first innovation in biofuels was to create a biopellet that uses the dried grape skins from the pomace in a formulation with timber. We set up a small pellet line that takes into account the intricate recipe and uses slightly different machine settings than those utilized by wood pellet manufacturers. The major issues we had to solve were how to best dry and store the skins, as they are quite sensitive to atmospheric conditions; and, secondly, how to remove or at least decrease the ash-forming particles found adjacent to them in grape pomace, so as to yield as clean a biopellet as possible.
In the spring of 2022 we managed to build on this innovation. The key advance this time around was the discovery that vineyards, often owned and operated by the same firms that produce wine, also have troubles disposing of some by-products. In their case, those are vine shoots, cut from vines every winter and spring in order to keep the vine fruitful and healthy. Vineyards usually burn the vine shoots in large piles in the field. Yet we discovered that shoots are an effective source of fruit timber and thus a valuable addition to our alternative biopellet recipe.
So we set out to organize that a certain volume of shoots be delivered to our premises. With that prospect, our biopellet line was slightly upgraded and refashioned so as to be able to incorporate the shoots. Then, after a few months of playing around with the recipe, we finally managed to produce a quality alternative biopellet that utilizes mainly wine-making and vineyard by-products. Making use of the shoots did not go without putting in considerable efforts, mainly in finding ways to set up an effective gathering campaign.
All in all, while acknowledging that we still have room to improve and build on the technology, Green Gold Int. can humbly say that it has found a new alternative biopellet formulation and technology that not only finds use in both household and industrial applications, but also helps vineyards in the disposal of what they consider a burdensome waste.
Contact us to learn more about our technology, our portfolio, or our upcoming projects.
