This document discusses opportunities for cogeneration in the sugar and paper industries using bagasse as a fuel source. It notes that high capital costs, fuel availability, and government approvals present constraints. Improving milling processes can reduce bagasse moisture content. Using both bagasse and sugarcane trash has potential to generate electricity year-round. New mill designs like CMR mills use less power and produce lower moisture bagasse than conventional mills. Bagasse dryers can further reduce moisture when using bagasse combustion gases as the heat source. Recovering and utilizing sugarcane trash in addition to bagasse could nearly double surplus power generation from mills.

1. Cogeneration
There are plenty of opportunities in Sugar & Paper Industries for Cogeneration. The
main constraints for implementation are High capital costs, Fuel availability for
continues operation throughout the year, Government approvals and power trading.
Cogeneration operations can be improved by reducing moisture content at milling
and also later using dryer with flue gases. Energy generation with sugarcane bagasse
and trash has the potential to supply a substantial amount of electricity. However,
this potential has not been fully developed. There is the need to develop the
necessary technology (strategy and equipment) to implement trash recovery and its
use as supplementary fuel to bagasse at sugarcane mills, at attractive cost and
without hindering mill operations. If this can be done, it will be possible to produce
electric energy around the year, selling guaranteed electricity on a profitable basis to
end consumers.
The low tariff culture, inherited from the times when the Government owned the
power sector, survived even with privatization and discouraged large investments in
new power plants and high voltage transmission lines. These facts associated with a
lower than average rainfall resulted in power shortage. This created favorable
conditions for the implementation of thermal power plants and as a consequence
several gas fired plants are being planned; the biomass could take a share of these
new plants if adequate conditions are created to permit it to compete with fossil
fuels.
It was expected that sugar mills could have the largest share in biomass power
generation, with the advantage that mills are normally located near large consuming
centers. Today there is a wide gap between the value received by the energy
generator and what is paid by the consumer. It is expected that energy generators
will get the better prices producing around the year. As increase in the country’s
demand for energy goes up, the need for new utility power plants, an important
opportunity for sugarcane mills if they can generate around the year. Project is
consistent with national priorities and policies for the energy sector and for
renewable energy production.
In India a Mill Tandem consisting of 4 mills is quiet common and sometimes has 5
Mills, depending upon RME desired. A Mill Tandem of 4 Conventional Mills delivers up
to 96% and that of 5 Mill it is generally + 96. However recently In India, Compact Multi
Roller (CMR) Mill design is becoming popular, which is a combination of a trash plate
less two roller mill with closed pressure chute less three roller pressure feeder
system, the mill thus is an integral five roller mill without conventional trash plate
and without closed pressure chute. Not only these mills consume about 30% less
power as compared to conventional mills but also offer higher RME and much lower
bagasse moisture. Mill tandem of 4 such Mills has + 96% RME and bagasse moisture of
about 48%.
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2. At many co-generation factories which have installed conventional mills, CMR Mill is
replacing the conventional mills to avail reduced bagasse moisture. Such factories
have tremendously benefited on account of substantial reduction in bagasse moisture
and have recovered the cost of mill replacement within a season or two; the mill
design of the CMR Mill is such that it can use the existing drive of conventional mill
when replaced.
Factories with conventional mill tandems have added CMR Mill as a Zero Mill and the
overall milling efficiency improved. At such installations the power consumption of
the zero mills is less than the power consumption of the existing last conventional
mill. Power consumption of the CMR Mill tandem will be about the same as that of the
Diffuser. Due to this recently a new factory exploring possibility of Diffuser for new
plant, opted for CMR Mill tandem. CMR Mill manufacturers have developed the Mills
with shaft mounted planetary drives, eliminating the need for heavy foundations for
mill drives and at the same time, making it possible to reduce mill house spans and
eventually mill house building and civil work costs.
Diffuser must consist of two dewatering mills, constituting half the milling tandem.
The CMR Mill manufacturers believe that their CMR mill tandem will offer an
economical, efficient and convenient alternative for the Diffuser system and would
find favorable response from the cane sugar industry.
1. Decomposition of the bagasse-loss of CV and the creation of terrible smells in the
bagasse store and boiler house.
2. Spontaneous combustion of the bagasse-this required constant moving of the
bagasse using FE loaders. Sprinklers were also employed to cool the bagasse.
3. Airborne bagasse creating environmental issues.
4. Combustion by unburnt embers from smoke stacks falling on the pile.
5. High FE loader maintenance costs and some spectacular FE loader fires!
Most of the countries in the world are storing the bagasse in the open area without
covering. Some countries a part of the bagasse is stored in bins which shall be
sufficient for running of the boiler for 4 to 5 days. In some countries a permanent
shed is arranged to keep some part of bagasse. In India as per the standards it is not
allowed to cover the bagasse with plastic material. Plastic is a flammable material
and once it gets fire stopping of the same shall be very difficult. Hence, in the
bagasse storage site; layout is to be designed with an efficient fire hydrant system.
Always a keen observation is required while welding near the storage.
In the peak summer it is a practice to sprinkle water on the Bagasse.
Storing bagasse outside does not require it to be covered by plastic or any other
means.
The downside is that it degrades and losses it caloric value, Cuban Dr. Abilio
Arrascaeta explained it is about 2% degradation per year and they would use an
affordable spray to treat the bagasse to allow for it to maintain its calorific value
when stored especially outside. If you continue to burn bagasse in the offseason in
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3. order to utilise all the bagasse in one year then the effort to treat it from degradation
may not be worthwhile. The bagasse reclaim areas should be covered though and
should have a means of getting bagasse below the surface of the bagasse pile on the
outside if in case you want to reclaim bagasse when it is raining. One way is to just
use a push piler or frontend loader but a conveying and scrapper system is better.
From a thermo dynamical point of view there are Availability of Energy and Energy
Quality. You can reduce moisture by reducing the water added to the mill tandem but
you will increase your sucrose content in bagasse, thus the loss. By simply improving
bagasse quality much difference in plant operation is achieved as one of the major
problem areas (steam generation and supplemental fuel/power) is covered and at the
same time extra income is derived from the juice resulting from dryer bagasse.
Success with reducing bagasse moisture depends on:
Mill settings - Mill Engineers have determined empirical discharge compaction rates
for bagasse in the mill. This ranges from around 500 kg/m3 in the first mill to around
1000 kg/m3 in the last mill. Mill settings must be determined using these criteria. The
mill settings must be laid out on a trash plate drawing. Sufficient sweep should be
allowed for the bagasse to expand across the trash plate and hence release the
moisture. Sweep should be around 1/2" to 3/4" from toe to heel. In addition clearance
for the bagasse entering the trash plate through the discharge opening should be
provided and clearance between the rear of the trash plate and the discharge roller
should be provided for drainage.
Mill set up - Mill must be set carefully according to the drawing.
Mill Feed - a mill must be well fed for good results to be achieved. Gaps in feed will
result in high moistures. Trend the level of cane in the 1st mill chute against the main
steams pressure and will find an amazing correlation between the two.
Mill performance monitoring - The single biggest problem with high moisture is
normally reabsorbtion. If the moisture in the bagasse on the trash plate cannot drain
due to slippage of the rollers, insufficient lift or clearances etc then this will be
sucked up by the bagasse in the discharge nip. You sometimes see juice squirting
through the discharge opening of a mill for this reason. There are many novel ways to
solve drainage issues in a mill, most involve the experience of seasoned Mill
Engineers. This poor drainage can be calculated in the form of a factor called the
reabsorbtion factor. This should be in the region of 1.6. Mill arcing is very
important-record the kg of welding rods applied per 1000 ton cane. With more
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4. welding, comes less slippage and the lower bagasse moisture. Time must be spent
understanding each mill.
Bagasse dryers are intended to operate only with gasses from bagasse combustion,
because this flue gasses have a dew point temperature close below to 75ºC that
allows recovering larger quantity of heat from these gasses, which constitute the
basic principle of the operation. Flue gasses from oil or coal have larger dew point
temperature and do not permit this deep recovery and also can create corrosion
due to its sulphur content.
 The boiler capacity is 120TPH and 108 Kgs/Scum pressure.
 It is working since last two seasons and able to reduce the moisture by 6 units
and handle up to 80% of the bagasse generated from the crushing operations.
The crushing capacity is 3500TCD. Needs further fine tuning of the operating
parameters to get the optimum performance.
 The drier will work only when we use bagasse and not mixed fuel, since the dew
point of coal is high.
 The outlet flue gases are connected to the regular chimney of the boiler and
there is no problem.
 The drier is designed basing on the parameters 1. Flue gas temperature 2. Inlet
bagasse moisture. 3. Flue gas quantity.
 The drop in moisture will depend on the quantity of heat available in the flue
gases which in turn depend on the temp and quantity of flue gases and the
bagasse quantity being fed to the drier. Hence the drop in moisture is correct
of a set of the particular operating conditions. It will vary if the conditions are
changed.
The cane diffuser requires two dewatering mills, where the bagasse moisture is
about 50% or even more. Bagasse moisture is the important factor in any co-
generation, +50% moisture is not an attractive proposition.
Present Situation - Asia’s energy matrix can be renewable (the world average is 14%,
and in developed countries 6%).The power shortage lasted for several years, during
this period some sugarcane mills were interested in selling energy to the grid, but
waited for better energy prices to invest in higher pressure boilers and turbo-
generators managed to get good power purchase agreements covering the harvesting
season, with prices of energy reached values up to Rs 6-10.
It was expected that sugar mills could have the largest share in biomass power
generation with addition of surplus power generating capacity in the range of 10 to
100 MW per participating mill, with the advantage that mills are normally located
near large consuming centers. Power generation in the majority of sugar mills is still
limited to the harvesting season (6 to 8 months/year) and at levels sufficient for their
own needs. This is achieved with steam generation in low pressure steam boilers (22
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5. bars). To be able to export energy, the sugarcane mill has to make significant
investments to change to higher pressure, more efficient boilers, and turbo
generator. This change to higher pressure boilers has been done by some sugarcane
mills with boilers reaching the end of their lifetime.
Recent decrees have allowed major electricity consumers to become free from public
utilities. These consumers can be connected to the grid system at 13.8kV, if they buy
energy from renewable sources. This will probably benefit both the energy generator
and the consumer, with better energy prices. Today there is a wide gap between the
value received by the energy generator and what is paid by the consumer. As it is the
case worldwide, it is expected that energy generators will get the best prices
producing year round energy, since it will be the most demanded.
This is an interesting opportunity for sugarcane mills to get a better price for the
generated energy, guaranteeing power all year around, (possibly integrating several
energy producers). At a global and national level, reduced CO2 emissions, increased
labor related to energy production, improved grid balance and safety as well as
improved balance of payment are benefits to this option.
Situation in Sugarcane Mills - Most sugar cane mills generate power sufficient only
for their own needs. They operate at 22 bar/300o
C steams with backpressure steam
turbines and process steam consumption of 500 kg/ton of cane and a surplus power
production that can reach 10 kWh/ton of cane, with power generation only during the
season (6 to 8 months).
Potential - With a small optimization in process steam consumption to 450 kg/ton of
cane and with the adoption of 65 bar/480o
C steam condensation extraction steam
turbines (commercial technology), it is possible to get a surplus of minimum 40
kWh/ton of cane, generating energy during the harvesting season, just using bagasse
as fuel. That means sugar cane mills could export 4 times more energy than present
situation, by using available technology of higher pressure boilers, with a surplus
electric power during the harvesting season.
Potential with Better Boilers and Trash - Using trash as a supplementary fuel to
bagasse, reducing process steam consumption to 340 kg/ton of cane and with the
adoption of 82 bar/480o
C steam condensation extraction steam turbines (commercial
technology), it is possible to get a minimum surplus of 100 kWh/ton of cane,
generating energy year round.
To increase the role of biomass for electric power production at sugarcane mills, it
would be necessary to achieve higher efficiency power generation systems and low
cost, abundant sources of biomass, and this would imply in the use of sugar cane
agricultural residues (trash) besides bagasse as fuel. The potential of sugar cane trash
determined was around 140 kg (dry matter) per ton of stalk mass. This is quite similar
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6. to the amount of bagasse obtained per ton of milled cane (280 kg with 50% moisture
content). Today, most of the trash is burned prior to harvesting but the percentage of
area harvested unburned is growing due to the phase out burning legislation. The
fraction of the trash potential that is possible to be delivered to the mill is a function
of the percentage of area that will be harvested unburned, the percentage of this
area where the trash can be removed and the recovery system efficiency.
The characterization of sugar cane trash to be used as fuel showed similar parameters
to bagasse (the present fuel used by the mills). Significant differences were observed
only for ash content (that is lower for bagasse), chlorine figures (that are higher for
trash, especially for the tops) and moisture content that is around 50% for bagasse,
and varies for trash (10 – 40%), depending on recovery system and drying time before
recovery. Despite the fact that trash and bagasse exhibit quite similar dry matter
Heating Values, trash usually provides a superior Heating Value that can be 1.7
times higher than for bagasse due to moisture content differences.
Several harvesting alternatives with trash recovery were considered and tested,
with technical viability (equipment and process) achieved for alternatives of
unburned chopped cane mechanically harvested, which are:
 Conventional harvesting - harvester operating with cleaning system on and
delivering clean cane to the transport trucks and leaving the trash in the field,
with trash recovered with balers (after sunshine trash drying and windrowing).
 Whole material harvesting with the harvester operating with the cleaning
system turned off, and delivering cane with the trash to the transport trucks
and trash separation and processing at the mill site.
 Partial cleaning with the harvester operating with the cleaning system at low
speed, leaving part of the trash in the field for agronomic purposes and the
rest with the cane that is loaded in the transport trucks and trash separation
and processing at the mill site.
 Sickle sword which can be mounted to a tractor will cut standing cane and
whose trash needs to be manually harvested and collected. Cane can be put in
to a trasher.
The studies and tests carried out during the project for the trash recovery
alternatives of “conventional harvesting (baling)”, “whole material harvesting”
and “partial cleaning”, indicated preliminary costs of US$ 18.5, US$ 31.1 and US$
13.7 per ton of trash - dry matter (including investment cost, operational cost and
impacts in the field and factory), with trash recovery efficiencies of 64%, 66% and
50%, respectively.
These costs include the agricultural impacts of trash removal in the field and trash
processing at the mill. However they do not take into account negative impact of
trash left in the field and presented later. The gasification has shown that both
bagasse and trash are good gasifier fuels and the BIG-GT/mill integration studies
have indicated that this technology can nearly double the surplus power
generation. Nevertheless, the need for high investment and further process
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7. optimization resulted in high energy cost (around US$ 75/MWh for the first plant),
hindering the immediate use of the gasification technology.
BIOSTIL 2000 which gives 3.5 litres spent wash per liter alcohol produced (@ 33% DS
on A Grade Molasses). This concentrated spent wash can be mixed with press-mud and
dried in Exergy Dryer to get > 80% DS in the dried mixture. Combustion Boilers have
limitations due to sublimation of K-salts and gasification is a better route to achieve
ZLD + Energy in cane molasses distilleries. Gasification of Spent Wash has been
tested in India. All the Condensate from Exergy Dryer can be recovered and recycled
back to the distillery to attain ZERO WATER IN (negligible Water Foot Print).
The Exergy Dryer can be operated at, say 3.5 bar,g, to provide for the Distillation
Steam without adding to the Boiler Capacity (MCR).
1) Mixing the concentrated spent wash with press-mud, mill-wet bagasse, cane
trash etc. and Exergy dry the Mixture to > 80% Solids DS)
2) Gasification of the dried mixture to syngas
3) Conversion of this syngas using Syngas to Ethanol technology of Lanzatech.
What happens to Trash?
Recovery of the trash left in the sugarcane fields is an alternative that has long been
under consideration by sugarcane mills to obtain a supplementary biomass fuel to
bagasse. In the past, some mills worldwide have tried to collect and use trash as a
fuel with no real success. Most of them have used baling as the recovery system.
Nevertheless, none of them have really addressed all the logistics of sugarcane
harvesting, trash recovery, trash handling/processing and use. More than that, no
studies or tests have included field and factory impacts of trash recovery and its use
as a fuel in the boilers. Besides the technical aspects, economic viability has also
been a strong barrier to trash use. Trash characteristics such as low density,
abrasiveness and mineral impurities lead to high costs for trash recovery,
transport and its processing.
Trash collection and use has been pursued in many sugarcane producing countries and
trials were conducted, some of them for long periods and extended areas, but always
in an experimental level. Countries such as Australia, Colombia, Thailand, Brazil and
others have tried different alternatives such as trash baling, trash recovery using hay
harvesters, trash recovery directly from the sugarcane harvester, trash and cane
harvested together, but none of them turned to be sustainable.
The main reasons are trash recovery cost and the effects with respect to the
sugarcane crop, sugar and ethanol production activities, including agronomic,
operation and industrial aspects of the trash recovery alternative, leading also to
negative economic impacts. The following describes various techniques used by sugar
mills and their results.
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8. Baling - The alternative of trash recovery with the majority of tests worldwide
considers conventional unburned cane harvesting with trash recovery using balers.
This is a straight forward solution when it is thought merely on the trash recovery as
an isolated operation due to the fact that the machine is designed to collect forage
material and it has a relatively low purchase cost.
Nevertheless, trash recovery using balers involves a series of operations. During
unburned sugarcane harvesting, sugarcane stalks are delivered to trucks and the trash
separated by the harvester is left in the field. After a period of 3 to 7 days when trash
is left in the field to dry, it is recovered by balers after a windrowing operation to
concentrate the trash. The produced bales are left in the field by the baler machine
and should be collected by loaders and infield trucks and stored in the field in a place
out of the cultivated area. Then, bales should be loaded into trucks and transported
to the mill site, where they should be unloaded and shredded to be used in the
boilers.
Series of problems are encountered using balers for trash recovery:
 Need of trash windrowing before baling;
 Excessive soil in the trash (average of 6% in weight);
 Timing of trash recovery (between harvesting and first sprouts coming
out);
 High moisture content if it rains on the trash in the field before recovery;
 Problems with the machines that are not designed to work on bare land
and with trash, high amount of soil and pieces of cane left with the trash,
with significant down time and maintenance costs;
 low operational performance, leading to large fleet;
 Management of machines (balers, bale collecting machines, bale transport
trucks) and employees;
 Excessive traffic in the field with soil compaction and sugarcane stool
damage implying in sugarcane yield decrease, not only of the next crop,
but also of the following ones until the field is replanted.
Independent from trash cost resulted from baling operation the described problems
have hindered any effort in introducing this alternative in the sugarcane mills.
Hay Harvesters - Hay harvesters have been tried in the operation of trash collection
in several sugarcane mills. Similarly to baling, trash is left in the field for 3 to 7 days
to dry, after conventional unburned sugarcane harvesting. Trash recovery operation
takes place after a previous windrowing of the trash. The big advantage of this
equipment is that the trash is shredded in the machine and loaded in trucks. The
trash delivered to the mill can be fed to the boilers with no need of other shredding
operation.
Nevertheless, problems similar to the ones faced with baling are encountered here:
 Need of trash windrowing before baling;
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9.  Excessive soil in the trash, even more serious than with baling (average
of 10% in weight);
 Timing of trash recovery (between harvesting and first sprouts coming
out);
 High moisture content if it rains on the trash in the field before
recovery;
 Problems with the machines that are not designed to work on bare land
and with trash, high amount of soil and pieces of cane left with the
trash, with serious problems of excessive down time and maintenance
costs;
 High wear and cost of the shredding knives;
 High machine purchase cost;
 Excessive traffic in the field.
Other Techniques - In the search for a viable alternative for trash recovery, other
trash recovery systems were tried or are under development, such as:
• Recovery of the trash straight from the harvester into an infield transport
equipment (instead of throwing it in the field), with a previous shredding
operation performed at the harvester to increase trash density. Trash
shredding at the harvester is risky since the machine is already very complex,
with several functions. Any problem with the shredding system would inhibit
harvester operation with severe consequences for the whole harvesting system.
Another critical point is the delivery by the harvester of trash and cane to the
infield equipment (running by the side of the harvester) in separate bins at the
same time. The system has been tried in Australia in the past, with no real
success.
• Harvesting cane with no cleaning and taking cane with trash to the mill. Trash
is then separated from the cane at the mill site. The idea has been tried in
Brazil and Australia and has good potential. Nevertheless, several problems
encountered such as low truck load density, trash separation and shredding
at the mill site have to be properly addressed.
Proposed Alternative for Trash Recovery - The success of a trash collection system is
its adequate insertion in the whole process of sugarcane production, which is the first
purpose of the grower. Trash recovery and use should fit in the process without
hindering the main activities of producing sugar cane, sugar and ethanol. Therefore,
the best trash recovery alternative is not necessarily the one with the least apparent
trash cost. There are several aspects not considered or not measurable at first that
can have a big impact on cost or on the technical viability of the process, including
logistics of the operation, existence of adequate equipment, equipment
management and maintenance, mineral and vegetal impurities in the cane, trash
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10. recovery problems after rain, time available for trash recovery after harvesting
and before cultivation or cane sprout, and impact on sugarcane yield.
The alternative of trash recovery with the best chances to become a reality is the
alternative of whole material harvesting that considers the transport of trash with
the cane in total. This alternative permits also the operation in the partial cleaning
mode for particular situations, when it is necessary to leave some trash in the field
for agronomic purposes. This can be performed just by adequate operation of the
harvester, extracting part of the trash from the harvested material and leaving it in
the field.
The main difference in trash cost of the alternatives of whole material harvesting and
partial cleaning (US$ 31.1 and US$ 13.7 per ton of trash - dry matter – respectively as
preliminary figures) is due to the greater amount of trash with the cane present in the
first, which reduces significantly cane load density, increasing transport costs. On the
other hand, the first alternative has higher recovery efficiency (66%) than the second
(50%), bringing therefore more trash to the mill. Besides that, partial cleaning has the
disadvantage that in the cleaning process, the part of the trash that is removed and
left in the field is the driest and easiest to separate, and that would be the best to be
burned at the boilers.
In summary, trash would be harvested with the cane. The main investment in terms of
trash recovery and processing would be performed at the mill site, where a dry
cleaning station (for trash and mineral separation from cane) and a trash shredding
equipment would be necessary. The interesting point of these two options is that the
field operations are almost the same as for actual sugar cane harvesting, with no
specific operations for trash recovery. There is the need to adapt/modify the cane
harvester to the condition of no cleaning or partial cleaning. Probably the infield
transport equipment and road truck fleet would be modified and its number increased
with the purpose of transporting a greater material volume, but no significant change
in operations timing, management, type of equipment and maintenance would occur.
The implementation of these and other modifications and developments will reduce
significantly operational trash recovery cost.
The present problems faced by sugarcane growers in commercial sugarcane fields due
to the present practice of leaving trash in the field after unburned cane harvesting
indicate a beneficial shift towards trash removal that will probably reduce the
agronomic cost incurred by trash removal. The reduction of the operational trash
recovery cost and the agronomic cost of trash removal might get overall trash cost
for the alternative of whole material harvesting significantly down to economically
viable figures.
Driving Force - 1300 million tons of cane is grown worldwide in more than a 100
countries.
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11. Energy efficiency: Higher energetic efficiency in the production of sugar and ethanol
can be accomplished if economic reasons justify, since the technology needed is
commercially available.
§ Efficient technology: Several studies indicated that Biomass Integrated
Gasification/Gas Turbine Technology could be an interesting option to
generate power in sugar mills, but a sound economic and technical
solution is still not defined. An intermediate option has been adopted by
most sugarcane mills interested in generating power to the grid that is to
invest in 65 to 82 bar boilers and CEST.
§ Harvest unburned cane: One critical point in the implementation of
round the year power generation in sugar mills in order to make
investment financially viable is recovery of part of the available trash,
which requires that green cane harvesting is used.
Mechanization of cane harvesting, an increasing practice due to labor shortage in the
past, had an impulse with unburned cane. In areas of unburned cane harvesting, the
trash (green and dry leaves) is left in the field, forming a thick trash blanket over the
field. At first, several possible benefits of this organic matter left in the field (trash)
started to be proclaimed, such as: protection of soil surface against erosion,
reduction in water evaporation, incorporation of the nutrients of the trash into the
soil and weed control (with the result that the use of herbicides could be eliminated).
The benefits were in fact observed in the first areas of unburned cane harvesting.
Nevertheless, with the expansion of the unburned cane harvesting it was observed
that agronomic benefits and problems can vary depending on several factors,
especially on climate condition and plagues of the region. Several mills started to
have serious problems with the trash blanket, such as: difficulties in carrying out
mechanical cultivation and ratoon crop fertilizing; delayed ratooning and the
occurrence of gaps (discontinuity of sprouts in the line of cane), causing a reduction
in cane yield; cane root rot when temperatures are low and/or the soil is very wet
after harvesting; increase in population of pests that shelter and multiply under the
trash blanket and selection of weeds that are not controlled by the trash blanket.
The first step would be the implementation of sugarcane trash recovery and its use as
a supplementary fuel to bagasse to generate electric power in conventional systems
(boiler/steam-turbine systems – preferably 82 bar boiler and during the whole year. In
the future, the implementation of advanced cogeneration systems such as BIG-GT that
would further increase the power generation in the sugar mills would be a step closer,
since trash recovery would be already set, adding to bagasse the necessary fuel supply
to run the plant year round.
Alternative - The objective is to avoid the emissions of 4.8 Mt CO2 (direct impact), by
reducing the cost and minimizing the risks associated to trash use, in addition to
bagasse, for energy generation. This will maximize electric power generation in
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12. sugarcane mills, which will substitute the corresponding power in thermal generation
using fossil fuels (especially natural gas).
Electric power will be generated in conventional systems (boiler/steam-turbine
systems – preferably 82 bar boiler and CEST – condensing, extraction steam turbine)
with the use of sugarcane trash as a supplementary fuel to bagasse, making possible
with this extra fuel to have year round generation (season and off-season). Power
purchase agreement will be negotiated, with the energy sold to the final consumer,
obtaining better prices for the electricity. All year round electricity of 11.6 MW per
standard 1 Mt mills will be available.
Consider to group sugarcane mills as potential candidates for investment, with the
purpose of implementing the project in at least 3 mills and very good perspectives
that the technology will be replicated in the near future. The implementation of the
project in this 3 mills will lead to a total of 240.000 t of CO2 displacement per year
(using natural gas generation as baseline), when the mills reach 50% of the total trash
recovery (considering average of 2 million tons of milled cane per implemented
project mill).
During the process of implementation and after, the technical and economic viability
of trash use will result in creating interest for several other mills in implementing
similar solutions. These investments will depend basically on negotiating attractive
PPAs, since the technology will not need other incentives aimed at cost reductions to
make the investment viable.
Problems in the field with baling machines, soil compaction, maintenance, etc., and
with trash handling, shredding and use at the mill are hindering trash use progress. A
major need is to actually identify potential customers and clarify wheeling and
PPA clauses for this new business, since sugar mills current export electricity
mainly on the spot market.
The equipment for this alternative permits also the operation in the “partial
cleaning” mode for particular situations, when it is necessary to leave some trash in
the field for agronomic purposes. This can be performed just by adequate operation
of the harvester, extracting part of the trash from the harvested material and leaving
it in the field. The alternative of “whole material harvesting”, with the best
operational characteristics has the drawback of the highest trash cost.
The proposition is to bring down the estimated trash cost of US$ 31.1 per ton of trash
- dry matter for this recovery alternative to figures between US$ 10 and US$ 15
through the implementation of new technologies, methodologies, cost benefit
practices and cost reviews in the field and factory. This will bring electricity
production cost to a level compatible with PPAs in the country.
The main investment in terms of trash recovery and processing would be performed at
the mill site, where a dry cleaning station (for trash and mineral separation from
cane) and a trash shredding equipment would be necessary.
12

13. Development of modified harvesters to operate with total trash or partial cleaning;
modifications in infield equipment for volume improvement; new design for road
truck bodies to increase transported volume; development of solution/equipment
to increase truck load density; further improvements in the existing dry cleaning
station project; development of the shredding equipment and modifications in the
boilers feeding system to mix and feed bagasse and trash.
i) Reduce investors risk by providing resources to cover investments in
equipment considered new technology and assessing willingness to pay of
potential electricity buyers.
ii) Provide resources for assistance in all the management and technical
issues, including energy commercialization aspects.
The objective is to avoid CO2 emissions by minimizing the cost and reducing
associated risks to trash use, in addition to bagasse, while maximizing electric power
generation in sugarcane mills.
Demonstrate technical viability of trash use taking into account detailed data of the
mills.
Optimize harvesting and transport
 Optimize cleaning, storage, chopping and feed in
 Improve process energy efficiency
 Year round electric power generation: equipment and operation
Web-based dissemination of experiences related to trash use. In addition to seminars
and workshop as well as site visits, it is important to centralize and make available
such information and data. The project will secure this through the design and
operation of a web-based platform for exchanges. Main target for this web-site will be
the sugar industry worldwide and research institutes. Nevertheless, universities,
consumers and lending institutions as well as governmental institutions will benefit
from this information exchange tool. In fact, information availability both under the
form of studies and with actual development of new equipment and operation of the
integrated trash recovery and cleaning, power production equipment, stakeholders
felt they would have enough knowledge to capture and use project outputs.
Sustainability - The present scenario of increasing demand for electric power, the
problems observed in several areas due to the trash left in the field, and the world
consciousness regarding renewable energy. Nevertheless, once the trash collection
system is adequately inserted in the whole process of sugarcane culture, with the
agronomic impacts, trash handling and use at the mill properly addressed, the success
and sustainability of the project are granted. In other words, sustainability will occur
13

14. once the objectives of the project are attained, that is, trash recovery is performed
in a way that is operational and does not hinder the normal operations of cane
harvesting and tillage, trash removal benefits sugarcane culture (with the
reduction of pests, increase in yield, etc), and power generation using bagasse and
trash is profitable.
Financial sustainability will be granted by power purchase contracts to be set during
the implementation project (in the case of energy to be sold to the grid) or by the
avoided energy and fuel purchase (in the case of energy to the mill’s own use such as
for an annex refinery).
Replicability - The present size of the sugar cane industry worldwide it is
approximately 1.3 billion tons of cane/year. Considering that unburned sugar cane
harvesting is slowly, but steadily, becoming more used and is becoming a fully
developed and mature technology, the replication potential for energy generation at
sugarcane mills using trash as a supplemental fuel to bagasse is enormous. The
interest in power generation in sugar mills is growing worldwide.
Replicability will be driven by three major forces:
i) In the case of unburned cane, vegetal impurities are significantly greater
than in burned cane. Former practice of mineral impurities removal
through washing cannot apply to chopped cane, because of high sugar
losses. If the chosen alternative for trash recovery considers bringing the
trash to the mill with the cane, and the separation performed at a dry
cleaning station at the mill, not only trash will be removed from the
cane but also great part of the mineral impurities, improving raw
material (cane) quality.
ii) In the case of unburned cane harvesting, the trash is now left in the
field as a blanket. This blanket has advantages (inhibiting some weeds,
increasing soil moisture content, etc.) and some disadvantages
(difficulties in cane sprout, increase of some plagues, difficulties of
cultivation, etc.). Several mills are searching for a solution, and are
trying several alternatives such as trash windrowing or trash recovery
with hay harvesters, with no real success.
iii) With energy production year round, contracts with final consumers and
decentralized production close to the consuming centers (reduction in
transmission costs), the perspectives for better energy prices can
become a reality, providing the mill with another important revenue
source.
Stakeholder Involvement
 Sugarcane mills – Mills that have problems in dealing with the trash left
in the field after unburned cane harvesting or even those that intend to
generate power to the grid or for their own use are searching for a
14

15. viable alternative for trash recovery and use. The sugar cane sector will
have an additional source of income with the surplus power and access
to financial resources to invest in the modernization of the mills.
 Civil society - it will benefit of a better environment due to reduction
in CO2 emissions, decentralized energy (again with less impact on the
environment) and more jobs availability. In the specific case of jobs, it is
important to say that mechanization, which is happening independent of
this project implementation, is reducing the number of jobs in the field
(cane cutters being substituted by the harvesters). Trash recovery
implementation will open new more qualified job opportunities, not only
in the field but also in the industry.
 The country and the federal government – the use of a natural own
country resource will avoid the use of imported fossil fuels such as
natural gas for thermal power generation.
 Field and factory equipment manufacturers of the private sector -
Some of them will participate directly of the process of development of
the new technologies and implementation of the project, but even
others will benefit of this new market built up by trash recovery and use
systems.
 The electric sector – The electric sector is facing a situation in which
big investments would be necessary to supply the energy demand
increase of the coming years. This source of energy coming from the
sugarcane mills, which is close to cities and distributed all over the most
populated region of the country.
 Final consumers of energy – The contact with possible final consumers
for the energy to be sold is to be established as an alternative to get
better prices for both, the sugarcane mill (producer) and the final
consumer.
 Sugarcane producers – There is a big number of cane growers that
produce cane and deliver it to the mills. Today many of them are having
problems with the trash left in the field. With trash recovery they can
have a solution for these problems and may also make a profit of the
trash delivered to the mill.
 Sugarcane research institutes worldwide – Several other institutions
that have the purpose of transferring and developing technology to the
sugarcane sector or that are dealing with RE will receive project
information and will have the opportunity to develop the subject of
trash recovery and do several works in this area and even implement
similar projects. We can name some of these institutions: SRI (Sugar
Research Institute - Australia), MSRI (Mauritius Sugar Industry Research
Institute), SMRI (Sugar Milling Research Institute - South Africa),
Cenicana – Colombia, Sugarcane Research Unit USDA – USA, MINAZ
(Ministry of Sugar – Cuba) and others.
 International financing institutions - active in RE area.
15

16.  Domestic financing institutions - such as national banks that actuate in
the area of energy and sugarcane sector.
Trials and evaluation of transport options for trash - Current evaluations clearly show
that the main barrier for trash use relates to transport at least in terms of cost.
Equipment - Define equipment performance, purchase cost and operational costs
(including estimates for the equipment to be developed). Perform simulation of the
operation to quantify equipment needed. Estimate field benefits. Define all the
activities involved in project implementation and their cost, separating the activities
related to the fact that this is a pioneer project from the ones that should be performed
in any other implementing project of this nature. In addition, consequences of burning
this new fuel – trash – in the boilers should be carefully verified. The significant
differences in moisture content, mineral impurities and alkalis content observed when
we compare trash and bagasse suggests that some parameters such as boiler operation,
degradation of the furnace/boiler, NOx and particulate should be monitored.
IMPACT assessment – Compute pre-feasibility elements to verify financial feasibility.
Perform trash/energy cost sensitivity analysis and risk analysis. Consider alternatives for
guaranteed energy production, use of energy by sugarcane mill annex refineries and
contacts with possible industrial consumers and the energy utilities. Start discussions and
get intentions for a contract for power purchase with definition of energy price. With
energy price and cost, calculate economic parameters such as investment pay-back time,
interest rate, etc.
Outputs
1. Description of trash recovery, handling and use processes and type of equipment
involved necessary innovations and new equipment to bring down costs.
2. Description of the transport option together with cost for this particular
component
3. Pre-feasibility studies with energy costs and financial return estimation based on
sale prices.
4. A market study together with market development and dissemination strategy to
be implemented during the full size project.
5. A description of needs as expressed by the mills with relation to deal brokering
6. Environmental benefit and incremental cost analysis.
7. A project document with executive summary together with co financing
commitment and stated intentions for private investors.
Justification
Nowadays, excluding a few exceptions, the sugarcane sector has faced various challenges
in energy generation at the mills. This has been caused basically by the following factors:
 After the energy shortage period, when energy prices got to interesting
figures for the sugarcane mills, prices went down again due to the excess of
available energy that occurred as a result of benefits incorporated during
16

17. the rationing period (reeducation of the public and use of more efficient
equipment). The price for the energy never rose to those figures again,
even with some expectations of energy shortage in the near future if
investments are not made at the present.
 Trash recovery tests and studies carried on indicated alternatives that were
not operationally or economically viable.
 The project is based on three propositions:
 The alternative of trash recovery with trash (whole harvesting), that
is the operationally accepted route can also be economically viable
(with adequate trash recovery cost).
 There are benefits to removing trash from the field and benefits of
trash separation at the mill site.
 Energy prices can be interesting for year round energy generation
when compared to energy generation cost.
It is crucial to generate sufficient information to change sugarcane mills negative
perspectives regarding energy generation.
Detailed Description of Main Activities
Optimize harvesting and transport
Harvesting and transport operations considering trash recovery with the cane require
the development of new equipment to deal with both trash and cane. The field tests
already performed were extremely useful to evaluate what happens during this new
harvesting and transport condition and point out the constrains to be overcame and
have already started discussions on the possible improvements. The optimization of
the system will consider:
 Improvement (partial cleaning) or elimination (whole material
harvesting) of the harvester cleaning system.
 Design of a new elevator to the harvesters in order to load cane and
trash to haulages.
 Development of lighter trucks and trailers to transport cane and trash
with considerable volume increase. This solution has already been
explored but requires high investment.
 Studies and developments to increase load density such as reducing cane
billet length and using truck body vibrators, already tested in the PDF
phase due to the financial weight of this component and the relative
simplicity of envisaged solutions
 Increase the number infield bins pulled by tractor and of trailers pulled
by truck and trips per day as a result of the lower load already tested
due to the financial weight of this component and the relative simplicity
of envisaged solutions.
Cleaning, storage, chopping and feed in
17

18. The harvesting and transportation of cane and trash together to the mill require a
separation of cane and trash by means of a dry cleaning station at the mill site.
Besides, it will be necessary to design further trash processing operations such as
trash storage, chopping and feed in. This activity will include:
• Improvements to increase actual cleaning station efficiency from 50% can
possibly be increased to 70% with the incorporation of recent
developments in the cleaning chambers.
• Development of trash shredding equipment.
• New handling systems to deal with trash and bagasse year around (mill
internal transport of trash and mixing to bagasse), avoiding any lack of
feeding to the boilers.
• Adaptation/development of boiler feeding system to the new fuel
(mixture of bagasse and trash).
Economic viability of trash use
Define all operations involved in the field and factory to recover cane and trash, trash
separation, trash handling, trash processing, trash and bagasse storage, power
generation (year round) and connection to the grid. Determine equipment
performance and size (for factory equipment), equipment performance and number of
equipment (for field equipment) through simulation models. Determine purchase and
operational cost.
For the new equipment or innovations, design and prototypes should have been
developed and trials carried during preparation and in Output 1.1, determining
performance and cost parameters. A high investment must be made to implement the
cleaning station at the mill site. This device is a new technology and still expensive.
However, all technical solutions to be implemented at the field will aim at reducing
the investment costs including this one. The reduced level of impurities of cane
should allow such minimization.
Agronomic benefits
Today it is possible to get information from several mills, considering the effect of
trash on sugarcane yield, tillage operations, herbicide use, plagues and others for
different regions and field conditions (soil, variety, etc.). As an example, trash
blanket herbicide effect, considered sufficient to control weeds during first trials, is
now selecting weed species that coexist with trash and need herbicide control. These
parameters should be properly addressed and the impact in harvesting cost
determined, considering trash recovery, with the gains or losses attributed to the
trash cost.
18

19. Business plan
Despite the deregulation of the energy market after its privatization, energy prices
were dictated by energy companies, the only allowed buyers of energy. Except for the
energy shortage period, sale-prices for the sugarcane mill’s energy never got to levels
compatible with the price of the energy sold by the energy companies. This situation
has not changed much. Nevertheless, one of the drawbacks of the energy produced by
sugarcane mills has been the fact that it is generated only during the harvesting
season (6 to 8 months/year), hence not meeting a potential consumer demand.
Generating all year around will increase the number of potential clients and also
increase the sale price allowing justifying investment. With energy generation around
the year, and the possible arrangements of energy producing sugarcane mills, it will
be possible to have guaranteed power. This will make this energy more demanded
with the possibility of good contracts with these “free consumers”. Arrangements
through the contact and workshops with interested consumers will be made, with the
possibility of pre-agreements or intention letters defining the energy sale-price.
Seminars
Will be important to provide elements of decision to the wide range of stakeholders
eventually involved in the investment projects be it the potential consumers,
Government, specialized lending institutions, the electricity regulator or the
transmission company.
PPA for investment
The Project will consider PPA alternatives such as sales to final consumers directly
and sales to the electric utility. In order for the Project to be economically viable the
PPA will have to meet a certain minimum criteria, in terms of energy sale-price,
credit conditions and so on.
Electric power generation at the sugarcane mills is a reality, with the production of
surplus energy to the grid growing very slowly. The not so attractive prices obtained
for the seasonal energy produced to the grid, with the use of bagasse only, has
inhibited larger investments in generation. Most mills that have already moved to
larger power generation scale happened to be investing in new boilers at the time
when energy prices were high (energy shortage). Other mills that have problems with
the trash left in the field (pests and cane sprouting delay for example) will keep on
trying isolated solutions to get rid of the trash. To solve these problems, most of the
mills are investing in pest control, varieties less susceptible to the presence of trash
and adequate equipment for tillage and other field operations.
19

20. It is important to point out that even during the power shortage period when several
sugarcane mills got contracts with high energy prices; none have succeeded in using
trash. As energy prices continue to increase, many mills might invest in power
generation systems, but trash will not be used as a fuel due to the lack of experience
with adequate technology and a full cost-benefit evaluation. Not using trash results in
the waste of a renewable source of energy to produce energy around the year, and
will lead to Coal based thermal units as a means to provide the electric energy
demand growth in the country. The baseline course of action leads to negative global
environmental impacts, as the main sources of new electric energy will rely on fossil
fuel based resources. A successful implementation of sugarcane trash recovery and its
use as a supplementary fuel to bagasse to generate electric power in a sugarcane
mill, using conventional boiler/steam-turbine systems (preferably 65 to 82 bar boiler
and CEST), would make it possible to generate a significant amount of power to the
grid and create the necessary conditions for the generation around the year (season
and off-season).
 The studies of the alternative scenario will generate knowledge about trash
(potential, recovery system, handling, agronomic impacts, economics, etc.)
and its use for energy generation in sugarcane mills with a sufficient level of
technology to warrant cost effective and sustainable operation.
 The development of the necessary new equipment, for the whole system of
trash recovery and use, with the manufacturers, will make the information and
necessary technology immediately available for the market.
 Being able to generate electric power around the year makes it possible to
have consumers and obtain better prices for the energy, and in turn makes
cogeneration projects viable, with significant amount of electric power
exported.
 The contact of the sugarcane sector with possible consumers will strengthen
the relationship among producers and consumers, widening the possibilities of
new investments in energy production at the mills.
 Investments and operational costs incurred to solve the problems caused today
by the trash left in the field after unburned cane harvesting (pests, cane yield
reduction, etc.) would not be necessary (or can be reduced), and these
resources directed to trash recovery actions.
 The energy produced at the mill will be grid connected and has the advantage
of decentralized electricity production. Sugarcane mills are usually close to
potential consumers, reducing losses and transmission costs.
 The new activities performed at the mill will bring employment and other
economic as well as social benefits of locally produced and nationally sold
renewable energy and lengthening of the local production chain with
consequential added value using renewable energy as process input.
 Project implementation will make a direct contribution to the reduction of
GHG emissions (to be calculated during PDF execution) by replacing fossil fuel
usage with renewable energy.
20

21. Although world prices for sugar and petroleum products have shown spectacular
variations, the long term outlook is good, gradual increase in the price of all fossil
fuels and their production stagnation, is better for the prices of sugar. This prospect
explains to a large degree, the renewed interest in the byproducts of the sugarcane
industry which have been developed in the last decade and have shown that the
optimal use of byproducts can provide a non-negligible support to the sugarcane
industry, although it could not, by itself, completely redress the difficult situation
sugar is presently experiencing. The present world production of sugarcane has
reached the 130 million tons; quantities of these byproducts produced yearly are
approximately the following:
Cane tops 400 million tonnes (fresh weight)
Bagasse 120 million tonnes (bone dry weight)
Filter muds 10 million tonnes (air dried weight)
Molasses 32 million tonnes (at 80 percent DM)
Maximum value upgrading goes with more complex processing characterized by
capital intensity, sophisticated technical knowhow and competitive markets.
Maximization of profits is not automatically linked with process complexity and
depends much more often on advantages local conditions or the proximity of a
remunerative export market.
The price of bagasse is generally related to its fuel value. Thus since 1 tonne of mill-
run bagasse can be replaced by 0.173 tonne of fuel oil, worth US$ 80/tonne or again
by 0.263 tonne of bituminous coal worth US$55/tonne, it can be said that bagasse is
worth between US$ 13.8 and 14.5 per tonne (mill-run weight, 50 percent moisture
content) and a figure of US$ 15 can be used as a rounded representative average.
MAIN UTILIZATION OF BAGASSE - Bagasse is the fibrous residue of the cane stalk left
after crushing and extraction of the juice. It consists of fibers, water and relatively
small quantities of soluble solids - mostly sugar. The average composition of mill-run
bagasse is the following:
Fibre (including ash) 48.0 percent
Moisture 50.0 "
Soluble solids 2.0 "
The fibre consists mainly of cellulose (27 percent), pentosans (30 percent), lignin (20
percent) and ash (3 percent).
The calorific value (CV) of bagasse is given by the formula:
Net CV = 18 309 - 31.1 S - 207.3 W - 196.1 A (expressed in kJ/kg)
Where S = soluble solids % bagasse
W = moisture % bagasse, and A = ash % bagasse.
If W = 0, S = 2 and A = 3, then the net CV of bone dry bagasse = 17 659 kJ/kg.
If W = 50, S = 2 and A =1 1/2 then the net CV of mill run bagasse = 7 588 kJ/kg.
21

22. Bagasse is used for the generation of steam and power required to operate the sugar
factory. A typical factory producing raw sugarcane require, per tonne of cane, about
35 kWh and 450 kg of exhaust steam. Much progress has been achieved lately and,
with continuous operation of the pans, crystallizers and centrifuges and an efficient
evaporation station, a modern raw sugar factory can now operate with 30 kWh and
300 kg of exhaust steam per tonne of cane. Such a factory can save 50 percent of
the bagasse it produces and this bagasse can be used to produce electricity for the
grid or saved as raw material for the production of paper, board, furfural, etc.
Electricity The more straightforward solution is to produce electricity from the
bagasse saved via a high pressure boiler and condensing turbo-alternator. This
solution has found favor in a number of cane producing countries such a Hawaii,
Australia, Reunion and Mauritius and with modern equipment some 450 kWh can now
be produced per tonne of mill-run bagasse. A typical example of this use is given in
Table and if mill-run bagasse is priced at US$ 15 per tonne, electricity can be
generated on a year round basis, at a cost of approximately US cents 6 to 8 per kWh,
which should prove competitive with the ruling price of electricity in most Third
World countries.
To be economical, the generating station must work on a continuous basis; say at
least 7 800 hours yearly. This will imply bagasse storage to be able to generate
during the intercrop period. Various methods tried are dry and wet bulk storage,
bale storage and pelleting. Dry bulk storage has proved uneconomical and not
suitable for large tonnages. Wet bulk storage does not apply and is utilized when
bagasse is to be used for pulp production. Pelleting is still being tested in Hawaii and
in Mauritius, but appears expensive per tonne of bagasse handled. Thus bale storage,
which is presently the most widely used method seem the reasonable choice,
although it requires a substantial storage area and can lead to annual losses of 10
percent of more of the bagasse stored.
Electricity
from bagasse
Best
conditions
Moderate
conditions
1. Characteristics
- Boiler (46 Bar A, 440°C) capacity
tonnes steam per hour
90 90
- Turbo-alternator (condensing at 0.10
Bar A) capacity (MW)
20 20
- Total capital investment for
generating station in working order
(US$ million)
9 11
- Electricity generated yearly (GWh) 150 120
- Weight of mill-run bagasse utilized
(tonnes)
333 000 266 000
- Acquisition cost of mill-run bagasse 15 20
22

23. (US$ per tonne)
- Average transport cost per tonne of
bagasse (US$)
4 5
2.
Cost of electricity generated (in US$
cents per kWh)
- Depreciation and maintenance (10%) 0.60 0.92
- Annuity repayment (0.16275 for 10
years at 10% interest)
0.98 1.49
- Labor and administration (US$ 100
000 yearly)
0.07 0.08
- Transport cost of bagasse 0.89 1.11
- Acquisition cost of bagasse 3.33 4.48
TOTAL GENERATION COST PER kWh 5.87 8.08
say US cents
6.00/kWh
say US cents
8.00/kWh
CDM/REC Eligibility: Post 2012 with the regime of CDM erased and implemented only
for LDC countries the opportunities arise of Regional Energy certificates of Individual
nations and their trading platforms. Programmes of Activities (PoAs) are gaining
popularity under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the carbon credit
scheme. PoAs bundle large numbers of replicable emission reduction activities,
facilitated through separate registration of the emission reduction concept (or PoA)
from the implementation of the actual activities or projects. Once the concept or
umbrella is registered, CDM Project Activities (CPAs) can be added or included in a
shortened procedure.
With growing emissions from the transport and energy sectors throughout Asia,
enormous potential for renewable-energy deployment, and 700 million people still
lacking access to electricity, Asian countries are ripe for the development of
Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in the energy, transport, waste, and other
sectors. As broader policies (compared with Clean Development Mechanism projects),
NAMAs can be nested in sustainable-development strategies and can attract financing
for actions that also help countries meet UNFCCC targets. With demand for CDM
offsets declining and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) likely several years away from
disbursing funds, supported NAMAs have emerged as the most promising source of
climate mitigation funding in the near term.
Lack of an official definition of NAMAs should be viewed as an opportunity to shape
the process and concept of NAMAs rather than as a deterrent for actions. For
example, developing and contributing countries have the ability to advance a shared
vision on the components of a successful NAMA and criteria for assessing NAMAs
seeking support – through bilateral and multilateral programs in advance of the GCF’s
full implementation. Now is the opportunity to build partnerships between these
23

24. groups of countries and to shape the direction of the GCF and UNFCCC through
concrete NAMA examples.
24