Bagasse

Bagasse is the biomass remaining after sugarcane stalks are crushed to extract their juice.

A sugar factory produces nearly 30% bagasse out of its total crushing. Many research efforts have attempted to use bagasse as a renewable feedstock for power generation and for the production of bio-based materials.

Bagasse is often used as a primary fuel source for sugar mills; when burned in quantity, it produces sufficient heat energy to supply all the needs of a typical sugar mill, with energy to spare. To this end, a secondary use for this waste product is in cogeneration, the use of a fuel source to provide both heat energy, used in the mill, and electricity, which is typically on-sold to the consumer electricity grid.

See also

• biofuel