Pressure is mounting for local manufacturers to swap fossil fuels for biomass to reduce their carbon footprints and mitigate carbon taxes. Experienced steam and boiler operations and maintenance service provider, Associated Energy Services (AES) has spent the past 14 years reviewing solutions, says Commercial Director, Dennis Williams.
The exception to the rule
While the market requirements and the drive to make the biomass switch-over are growing, Williams points out that in practice, this is not as prolific as is commonly believed: “Currently, in South Africa, biomass is mostly for own-energy usage, such as by sugar mills (bagasse) and sawmills (timber residues). The application of biomass for industrial thermal energy applications – such as steam – are still the exception,” he explains.
Notwithstanding this, however, Williams adds that just over 10% of AES’s current client base uses biomass for steam generation, but that interest in alternative fuel sources such as biomass is growing amongst another 20 to 30% of the company’s current client base. Multinationals with stringent global carbon reduction targets, and food manufacturers supplying sustainability- and -socially-conscious retailers are under the most pressure to change.
”Multinationals assume that it is as easy to decarbonise in South Africa as it is elsewhere. That is simply not the case, as we have a completely different and more constrained energy mix. Also, coal is available at a relatively low cost locally,” he advises.
