Bagasse
Bagasse is the residue obtained from crushing cane in the sugar factory. It contains 50% moisture & 2% sugar & the balance is fibre. Historically, bagasse waste has been burned in the fields, and thereby creating pollution. For each 10 tonnes of sugarcane crushed, a sugar factory produces nearly 3 tonnes of wet bagasse. By making use of bagasse sugar industry have been successful in reducing dependence on State Electric Boards, for their power supply as it can procure up to 90-95% of its total power requirement through captive generation from steam turbines.
Whereas bagasse is primarily used to meet the captive requirement of fuel, a substantial quantity of it can be saved and diverted for use in other industries. Inside a sugar plant, bagasse is generally used as a combustible in furnaces to produce steam, which in turn is used to generate power. The composition and quality of bagasse varies based on the variety of sugarcane, maturity of cane, method of harvesting and the efficiency of the sugar factory.
Bagasse is also used as a raw material by the paper industry. The manufacture of paper from Bagasse is an environment-friendly alternative over the conventional route of extracting pulp from trees. By adopting bagasse products, you indirectly help in reducing the pollution and energy consumption.