Biomass for Industrial and District Heating

The industrial sector, the world’s largest energy consuming end-user, is a major greenhouse gas emitter. It heavily relies on fossil fuels, with only a small contribution from renewables, and of these, only biomass (mainly primary solid biofuels) is not marginal at a global scale. Several factors contribute to the limited adoption of renewables within the industry. The sector’s extraordinary diversity and complexity make a one-size-fits-all solution impossible. Industrial energy consumption varies significantly among different sub-sectors and even within each sub-sector, depending on production composition and industrial processes. Energy-intensive industries typically consume substantial amounts of process heat, while non-energy-intensive ones tend to rely more on electricity. Given the importance of energy-intensive industrial sub-sectors, finding solutions to decarbonise process heat is crucial. Process heat encompasses various applications, technologies, energy sources, temperatures and delivery methods. There is substantial demand for high-temperature process heat (>500 °C), with only a limited number of renewable energy options available, including bioenergy. Bioenergy holds the potential to contribute to the decarbonisation of industry but requires tailored solutions for each sub-sector and context. This chapter presents key commercially available biomass heat production systems, which vary in configuration, technologies and scale, with similarities to district heating systems, also discussed.