Biomass for industrial process heat
The use of biomass for energy in industry is growing rapidly in the last 15 years or so. Until about 2010, the use of biomass residues for process heat in industry was originally limited to industry sectors that had their own residues available to cover (some of) their own heat demand, e.g. sugar, palm oil, wood processing, pulp and paper, etc. By processing these residues, a waste problem could be avoided while generating useful heat at the same time. With the increasing demand for cost effective renewable heat however, also other industries have recognized the opportunity for biomass based heat provision to reduce the carbon footprint of their processes.
While there is a large potential to displace fossil fuels with biomass fuels in the large and energy intensive industries (steel, cement, etc), there are also many small and medium sized process industries such as food industries, paper industries, etc. In contrast to the larger energy intensive industries where these case typically require that large volumes of biomass are shipped to an individual site, the heat demand in these smaller industries can often be better matched with the biomass resources that may already be locally available, resulting in smaller transportation distances.
Case Study
This case study describes the replacement of coal by biomass for industrial process heat at the Golden Bay Cement facility in New Zealand.
Cement is the second most consumed material in the world, following water, with no scalable substitutes at present. Manufacturing cement results in two main sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which account for about 6% of all man-made emissions, second only to the steel sector. Approximately, 40% of these emissions arise from burning fossil fuels to heat kilns to 1350-1450°C; the balance produced during the thermal decomposition of limestone into CO2 and lime, an essential element of cement.
Golden Bay Cement is one of New Zealand’s two main suppliers. In 2025, they had approximately 60% alternative fuels firing and 40% coal, which has allowed them to reduce CO2 emissions by 75,000 tonnes per annum compared to firing coal only. They plan to fire 100% alternative fuel by 2030, which forms part of the strategy to reduce their carbon footprint by 30%, from 2018 levels by 2030.
More case study reports
This report is part of a series of reports on the use of bioenergy in industry to supply process heat. Five case studies and a concluding policy synthesis report on biomass based industrial heat were published. In 2024, another 5 examples were prepared by Task 32 on application of biomass combustion in industry.
Find more information about Task 32: Biomass Combustion.
Find more case studies on biomass for industrial process heat
