Application of Biomass for the Production of Energy in the Portuguese Textile Industry

The use of biomass as energy source becomes considered again as a possibility, after a period in which practically felt in disuse, especially in industrial environments. Nowadays is becoming again an alternative, mainly due to the increasing prices of fossil fuels, especially oil and natural gas, as well as by the growing environmental and sustainability concerns, since the biomass fuel is considered neutral in terms of CO2 emissions. The use of biomass as solid fuel presents logistic difficulties, which do not allow their straightforward dissemination in all industrial units that intend to change its fuel. However, counterbalanced by excellent results from the economical point of view, achieved due to the stability of biomass prices in Portugal, the application of biomass is envisaged in this paper as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels for the Portuguese textile industry. Hence, a real case study is provided to discuss advances and developments in the field of biomass applications.