A by product of sugar production, bagasse is the organic material which is left over after sugar cane is crushed. This is one of the most plentiful by products of the sugar production process, and for every ton of refined sugar produced, there are two tons of bagasse produced as well. When one considers that the amount of refined sugar traded in the last year exceeds 40 million tons, one begins to get an idea of the sheer volume of bagasse which is also produced globally every year.
Many sugar mills find themselves with mountains of this fibrous material, which at one time were simply taken out and burned in the fields surrounding the sugar mill, polluting the environment and creating expense for the company. However, as natural resources become more and more scarce, and global attention has been increasingly turned to the problem of conserving environmental resources, bagasse has come into its own most predominantly as an alternative fuel source, and as an environmentally friendly substitute for paper and plastics.
Bagasse As Energy
Even prior to the plethora of applications which bagasse is used in today, some sugar mills used bagasse as a fuel, burning it to provide energy for their factories. In some cases, so much energy was produced from burning bagasse that the sugar mill was able to make some profit by selling the excess energy on the national consumer grid.
Nowadays bagasse is also being turned into a charcoal fuel source. Bagasse charcoal is cheaper than authentic charcoal, and is better for the environment as it does not rely on chopping down trees. Bagasse charcoal also burns very cleanly with little pollution, and can be stored for quite some time without degrading in quality.
Bagasse charcoal is made by first drying the bagasse until it is tinder dry, and then putting it into a kiln where it is heated in a low oxygen environment at very high temperatures. The bagasse does not burn whilst inside the kiln, but water and other undesirable contaminants are driven off during the heating process, and the remaining fiber turns to charcoal in the extreme heat. When the heating process is complete, bagasse charcoal is the only remnant of the bagasse that entered the kiln. This charcoal is then formed into briquettes and sold to consumers as a cost effective heat energy source.
That’s not where bagasse’s potential as an alternative fuel ends either, not only can raw bagasse be burned to create heat energy and electricity, or heated in a kiln to create clean burning charcoal, but bagasse can also be used as a coal substitute in high bagasse production areas. When mixed with waste oil, bagasse becomes quite an efficient source of energy, and many companies are now exploring ways to optimize energy returns using bagasse as part of alternative fuel stocks.
Bagasse At My Table
As a paper source, bagasse is an environmentally sound substitute for trees. It does not require bleaching, is highly recyclable, and is also highly biodegradable. Bagasse can be recycled as tableware, disposable products that are replacing the traditional Styrofoam plates and cups due to the fact that Styrofoam is now widely regarded as being an unacceptable material due to its low biodegradability and negative environmental impact. Bagasse tableware looks quite a bit like traditional disposable Styrofoam and plastic tableware, but has some distinct advantages above and beyond its environmentally friendly status.
Bagasse table ware can stand temperatures up to 190 degrees Fahrenheit, is microwave and freezer safe, and is entirely hygienic having been sterilized and sanitized, and exposed to very high temperatures during the molding process. It also biodegrades within 30 to 90 days, making it one of the most environmentally friendly materials for the production of disposable tableware.
Other Uses Of Bagasse
Because bagasse is a relatively nutritious biomass, it has also been used as a medium in which to grow mushrooms. Bagasse is washed and in some cases supplemented with nutrients before mushroom spores are introduced. It is estimated by some sources that using bagasse as a medium for the growing of mushrooms could almost double the world’s mushroom supply.
New uses for bagasse are being discovered all the time, and bagasse is fast becoming a sought after material in its own right instead of being regarded as a useless waste product of the sugar refining process.
Bagasse for Sale
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