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Bagasse (sometimes spelled bagass) is the biomass remaining after sugarcane stalks are crushed to extract their juice. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... See biomass (ecology) for the use of the term in ecology, where it refers to the cumulation of living matter Switchgrass, a tough plant used in the biofuel industry in the United States Rice chaff. ... Species Saccharum arundinaceum Saccharum bengalense Saccharum edule Saccharum officinarum Saccharum procerum Saccharum ravennae Saccharum robustum Saccharum sinense Saccharum spontaneum Sugarcane or Sugar cane (Saccharum) is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation) of tall perennial grasses (family Poaceae, tribe Andropogoneae), native to warm temperate to tropical...

A sugar factory produces nearly 30% of bagasse out of its total crushing. Many research efforts have attempted to use bagasse as a renewable feedstock for power generation and for the production of bio-based materials. One successful example has been to cultivate edible mushrooms, such as oyster or shiitake, on blocks or bags of chopped up bagasse. A feedstock is a petrochemical used as a raw material to be fed into a machine or processing plant. ... Itaipu Dam is a hydroelectric generating station Electricity generation is the first process in the delivery of electricity to consumers. ... A bio-based material is simply an engineering material made from substances derived from living tissues. ...

Bagasse is often used as a primary fuel source for sugar mills; when burned in quantity, it produces sufficient heat energy to supply all the needs of a typical sugar mill, with energy to spare. To this end, a secondary use for this waste product is in cogeneration, the use of a fuel source to provide both heat energy, used in the mill, and electricity, which is typically sold on to the consumer electricity grid. Not to be confused with California Highway Patrol. ... A database query syntax error has occurred. ...

The resulting CO₂ emissions are equal to the amount of CO₂ that the sugarcane plant used up from the atmosphere during its growing phase, which makes the process of cogeneration appear to be greenhouse gas-neutral. However when a full audit of energy used in production is done, 75% of the energy required to grow and move the sugar cane (including bagasse) is from liquid fuel (petroleum or hydrocarbon based), leading to a 25% net gain from photosynthesis.^{[citation needed]} Ethanol produced from the sugar in sugarcane is a popular fuel in Brazil. The cellulose rich bagasse is now being tested for production of commercial quantities of cellulosic ethanol. Grain alcohol redirects here. ... Cellulosic ethanol is a type of biofuel produced from lignocellulose, a structural material that comprises much of the mass of plants. ...

Bagasse is also used as a tree-free alternative for making paper. This process requires no bleaching, is more biodegradable, easier to recycle, and overall has less impact on the environment. As in sugar production, the sludge left over after removing the cellulose fibers, is used to power the paper-mills. Examples of commercial sites advertising such uses are http://www.fullcircleplanet.com/ and http://www.stalkmarket.net/ and http://www.tree-free.com and http://www.excellentpackaging.com/pages/1/index.htm

Bagasse is used to make insulated disposable food containers, replacing materials such as styrofoam, which are increasingly regarded as environmentally unacceptable (see styrofoam bans). http://www.apacbiopaperplastic.com is a commercial site discussing this use. Styrofoam is a trademark name for polystyrene thermal insulation material, manufactured by Dow Chemical Company. ... Styrofoam is a trademark name for polystyrene thermal insulation material, manufactured by Dow Chemical Company. ...

Agave bagasse is a similar material which consists of the tissue of the blue agave after extraction of the sap. Binomial name Agave tequilana A. Weber Ref: ??? The tequila agave Agave Tequilana Weber Azul, often called blue agave, is an agave, a principal economic product of Jalisco state in Mexico due to its role as the base ingredient of tequila, a popular alcoholic drink. ...

See also

• Biofuel

For articles on specific fuels used in vehicles, see Biogas, Bioethanol, Biobutanol, Biodiesel, and Straight vegetable oil. ...

External links

• Bagasseware

Further reading

• The Potential of Bagasse-Based Cogeneration in the US, Kevin Ho, Columbia University, 2006.