Paper Industry News
Biomass energy grows in paper industry
Tuesday, 23, Feb 2009
The pulp and paper industry worldwide has increased its use of woody biomass for energy by half over the past three years in a switch towards renewable energy, according to Wood Resource Quarterly.Biomass is plant-based matter in many forms, which can generally be burnt or have its oils extracted for burning. Woody biomass is often the wood offcut and sawdust waste leftover from log, lumber and paper processing in forestry operations. This renewable source of energy is increasingly being turned into pellets in a growing international market.
Market analysis with Fisher International shows a 51 per cent rise in use of woody biomass in the industry between 2006 and 2009 to 75 million tonnes. The switch was at the expense of fossil fuels. However, biomass’s share of total energy use remains modest, rising from 16 to 18 per cent across the sector globally.Pulp and paper mills in North America and Europe are still the largest users of biomass but much of the recent growth has been in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific, WRQ says.
