7.3.5 Renewable energy

The use of biomass is well established in some industries. The pulp and paper industry uses biomass for much of its energy needs (See Section 7.4.6.). In many developing countries the sugar industry uses bagasse and the edible oils industry uses byproduct wastes to generate steam and/or electricity (See Section 7.4.7.). The use of bagasse for energy is likely to grow as more becomes available as a byproduct of sugar-based ethanol production (Kaltner et al., 2005). When economically attractive, other industries use biomass fuels, for example charcoal in blast furnaces in Brazil (Kim and Worrell, 2002a). These applications will reduce CO₂ emissions, but will only achieve zero net CO₂ emissions if the biomass is grown sustainably.

Industry also can use solar or wind generated electricity, if it is available. The potential for this technology is discussed in Section 4.3.3. The food and jute industries make use of solar energy for drying in appropriate climates (Das and Roy, 1994). The African Rural Energy Enterprise Development initiative is promoting the use of solar food driers in Mali and Tanzania to preserve fresh produce for local use and for the commercial market (AREED, 2000). Concentrating solar power could be used to provide process heat for industrial purposes, though there are currently no commercial applications (IEA-SolarPACES, n.d.).