Bagasse: Brazil and Guatemala Lead The Way In This Sweet Renewable Energy Source
Posted: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
by Edward Rhymes
Bagasse is the fibrous residue remaining after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice and is currently used as a renewable resource in the manufacture of pulp and paper products and building materials.
Bagasse, a sophisticated name for the leftovers from sugar cane manufacturing, serves as an excellent alternative to paper, as it does not require cutting down of trees and it does not require as much energy to produce (and does not need to be bleached). In the past, Bagasse was considered a waste product and burned.
The question may be asked: why am I talking about bagasse? Well, Brazil is increasingly turning to alternative power generation fuels such as biomass in order to increase electricity supply and reduce its dependence on hydropower. Biomass power represents around 4.1 percent of the total installed capacity in Brazil at present and most biomass cogeneration is based on sugarcane bagasse. At present, sugarcane bagasse cogeneration accounts for 3.03 percent of the total Brazilian energy framework.
Now, because Brazil is the largest sugar producer in the world, there's a solid regulatory structure for selling independent power --- it's a lot easier than in the United States. You have this huge stock of bagasse that's out there, and you have mills that are capable of being upgraded and producing this power differential.
As I previously mentioned, Brazil is the largest sugar producer in the world; however, the impetus for using bagasse as a real energy source is Guatemala. Guatemala gets 12 percent of its power from sugar mills. It's also being done in India, which is the second largest sugar producer in the world. That adds up to great potential opportunity in Colombia and some of the other Caribbean countries. Anywhere on the tropical belt where there is the right regulatory structure, the right price and enough sugar.
There is an additional benefit of bagasse as well. Over the years, many different household products have been developed from this sugarcane by-product. This includes compostable plates, biodegradable bowls saucers, and even eco friendly containers and bins.
When all is said and done, the possibility for renewable energy has never been so sweet.
Bagasse, a sophisticated name for the leftovers from sugar cane manufacturing, serves as an excellent alternative to paper, as it does not require cutting down of trees and it does not require as much energy to produce (and does not need to be bleached). In the past, Bagasse was considered a waste product and burned.
Now, because Brazil is the largest sugar producer in the world, there's a solid regulatory structure for selling independent power --- it's a lot easier than in the United States. You have this huge stock of bagasse that's out there, and you have mills that are capable of being upgraded and producing this power differential.
As I previously mentioned, Brazil is the largest sugar producer in the world; however, the impetus for using bagasse as a real energy source is Guatemala. Guatemala gets 12 percent of its power from sugar mills. It's also being done in India, which is the second largest sugar producer in the world. That adds up to great potential opportunity in Colombia and some of the other Caribbean countries. Anywhere on the tropical belt where there is the right regulatory structure, the right price and enough sugar.
There is an additional benefit of bagasse as well. Over the years, many different household products have been developed from this sugarcane by-product. This includes compostable plates, biodegradable bowls saucers, and even eco friendly containers and bins.
When all is said and done, the possibility for renewable energy has never been so sweet.
This Article has been viewed 869 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Hum, definitely something to chew on - how about in Hawaii where they seem to do a lot of sugar cane too? MarijoI don't know about Hawaii Marijo, but seems to me that if this could be a reliable energy source, we would do well to research it.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.