Track: Renewable Energy

Abstract

Sugarcane bagasse is a by-product milling sugarcane  and it is an important fuel resource for the sugar industry. Bagasse is a fibrous, has low  density material and has a wide range of  range of particle sizes with  high moisture content. Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) is among the most abundant agricultural residues globally in sugar producing countries. Bagasse is mainly used as a fuel for cogeneration by the sugar factories, but has other applications like ethanol production, paper and pulp manufacture, biogas production and charcoal briquettes manufacture. The falling electricity prices and reducing global sugar prices due to excess sugar stock in the world market have made bagasse a very attractive fuel for grid-based electricity generation and supply making it a feasible diversification pathway for sugar factories. This study identifies the various physical, chemical, and thermodynamic properties of bagasse and sugar cane trash as fuels in the sustainable energy transition.  The study recommends various policy initiatives to promote the use of bagasse and cane trash as a fuel particularly in heat and power generation. Proposed measures include attractive feed in tariffs for cogenerated heat and power, tax incentives and measures to encourage investment, and a flexible power purchase agreement that recognizes the unique challenges facing the sugarcane manufacturing like unsteady supply of cane and hence inconsistent milling and fuel supply. Bagasse has various pathways for exploitation as an energy resource i.e., direct combustion in boilers to produce heat for steam and power generation, anaerobic digestion to produce biogas and pyrolysis and gasification to produce syngas. Syngas and biogas can further be upgraded to produce   biomethane which has significant energy and process applications as a substitute of natural gas. Bagasse has got three e major components, namely pith, fiber, and rind,

Key Words: bagasse; cane rash; bagasse cogeneration.