FOREWORD

The cost of fossil fuels has risen rapidly recently, and most Asian Productivity Organization (APO) member countries depend upon imports, thereby increasing overall business costs. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the region are therefore under tremendous pressure to cut costs and be more competitive to survive. At the same time, millions of tons of biomass in the form of rice husk, waste wood, coconut shell, horticultural and agricultural waste, palm oil waste, organic solid waste, bagasse, etc. are generated in the Asia-Pacific region, which could easily be utilized in boilers as an energy source replacing fossil fuels. As most SMEs in Asia depend on industrial boilers for the steam required in their production processes, the use of biomass in place of nonrenewable fuel such as coal, diesel, fuel oil, etc. would result in cost savings and reduction in emissions including emissions of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change.

Some industries in the region have already started using biomass as an energy source and have successfully made profits. The use of biomass also provides environmental benefits in terms of stabilizing CO2 emissions, which would otherwise contribute to global warming. To promote the use of biomass in industrial boilers, the APO in association with the ASEAN Foundation carried out a project on Reusing Biomass Waste in Industrial Boilers for Energy Recovery for the Greater Mekong Subregion Countries. In 2008, a similar project was implemented for the APO member countries in the SAARC region. More than 300 professionals received training and information on the use of biomass in industrial boilers through workshops and national programs under these projects. At the time of publication, four more national programs were planned for March 2009 targeting 200 professionals in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

The manual Biomass as Fuel in Small Boilers is an outcome of the regional workshops on biomass unitization in industrial boilers organized in Lahore, Pakistan, in August 2008. The manual covers basic information on the characteristics of biomass, logistic aspects, and biomass energy conversion technologies and describes methods for retrofitting coal/oil-fired boilers for biomass use including the cost economics. It aims at enhancing the understanding of boiler users and managers from SMEs of the use of biomass as fuel and the operation and maintenance of biomass boilers.

Based on the feedback received during APO biomass boiler-related projects, the majority of SMEs in the region would be interested in changing to the use of biomass as fuel. It is hoped that this manual will prove to be of practical use to such SMEs, providing them with the relevant information to plan their approach, comprehend key requirements for such a change, and thereby promote biomass as fuel in the region.

Shigeo Takenaka
Secretary-General
Tokyo, April 2009