PAPER making! g! FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF PAPER TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL ® Volume 11, Number 2, 2025
“Energy transition in tissue paper industry through solid biomass combustion and gasification: Techno-economic potential and limitations”, Alessio Ciambellotti, Arianna Baldinelli, Stefano Frigo, Stefano Pecchia & Umberto Desideri, Journal of Cleaner Production , Vol.495, 1 March 2025, 145014. The pulp and paper industry is a hard-to-abate sector still largely relying on fossil fuels. Tissue paper manufacturing necessitates c.a. 1300 kWhth/tpaper(up to 500 °C) and 800 kWhe/tpaper to maintain high productivity performance. Within this framework, this study addresses the use of bioenergy in the tissue paper manufacturing sector, where ready-to-use cellulose is imported and there is no autochthonous biowaste availability like in Kraft-based pulping processes. Assuming the adoption of conventional and reliable systems (biomass boilers, biomass gasifiers and cogeneration systems), this paper examines both the potential environmental benefits and the techno-economical challenges of their implementation in basic layouts and in cogeneration solutions. The results indicate that a fully biomass-based setup, capable of eliminating fossil fuel use through self-generated electricity, can reduce energy-related CO 2 emissions by 80%. However, the viability of this solution is constrained by the substantial biomass requirement (c.a. 57 kt/y), necessitating significant storage and handling capacities. Considering biomass-based solutions as a partial alternative appears more viable, due to the balance between construction costs, logistical demand, and natural gas consumption reduction. These solutions achieve CO 2 emissions reductions ranging from 12% to 45%, using only 13%–33% of the biomass required for a full system replacement. The impact of the innovative layouts investigated in this study is projected on the district of Lucca, one among the main tissue paper district at EU level (18% of EU tissue paper output). The replacement of natural gas with bioenergy could achieve −227 ktCO 2 /y, but this approach would lead to a non sustainable forestry wood biomass consumption (estimated around 93% of the local potential). Moreover, reasonable payback time requires biomass costs to range between 22 and 31 €/MWh which is challenging in Italy but may be viable in Northern European countries where biomass is cheaper and bioenergy exploitation is more common. Therefore, the economic analysis indicates significant feasibility risks in introducing bioenergy to reduce natural gas for use in heating systems. Nonetheless, in the short term, this solution is competitive compared to other decarbonization strategies, including direct electrification. “Practical guide for the use of the EU Ecolabel in the green public procurement of tissue paper and tissue products”, Kowalska Malgorzata Agata, Delre Antonio, Donatello Shane, Faraca Giorgia & Wolf Oliver, Publications Office of the European Union, JRC141344. The EU Ecolabel and EU GPP (Green Public Producrement) are two European policy instruments that can be used by public procurers in a synergistic manner by matching supply and demand signals to green the market. Suppliers receive general demand signals for greener products. However, public procurers are often reluctant to state specific green criteria in calls for competition because of uncertainty about what exactly to ask for and the availability of compliant products on the market. These practical guides help procurers to draw up technical specifications and award criteria based on EU Ecolabel criteria in calls for the green public procurement of tissue paper and tissue products. Compliance with the recommended EU GPP criteria can be verified simply by products carrying the EU Ecolabel and, in some cases, by products carrying other ISO 14024 Type I ecolabels. Public authorities can also directly request EU Ecolabel tissue paper and tissue products in their call for competition.
Technical Abstracts
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