Technological Innovation in Biomass Energy for the Sustainable Growth of Textile Industry

Leonel Jorge Ribeiro Nunes, Radu Godina and João Carlos de Oliveira Matias
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Leonel Jorge Ribeiro Nunes: DEGEIT—Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Radu Godina: Research and Development Unit in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (UNIDEMI), Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology (FCT), New University of Lisbon, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
João Carlos de Oliveira Matias: DEGEIT—Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-12

Abstract: The growing increase in world energy consumption favors the search for renewable energy sources. One of the existing options for the growth and sustainable development of such types of sources is through the use of biomass as an input. The employment of biomass as solid fuel is widely studied and is no longer a novelty nor presents any difficulty from the technical point of view. It presents, however, logistic obstacles, thus not allowing their direct dissemination in every organization that is willing to replace it as an energy source. Use of biomass can be rewarding due to the fact that it can bring significant economic gains attained due to the steadiness of the biomass price in Portugal. However, the price may rise as predicted in the coming years, although it will be a gradual rising. The main goal of this study was to analyze whether biomass in the case of the Portuguese textile industry can be a viable alternative that separates the possibility of sustainable growth from the lack of competitiveness due to high energy costs. The study showed that biomass can be a reliable, sustainable and permanent energy alternative to more traditional energy sources such as propane gas, naphtha and natural gas for the textile industry. At the same time, it can bring savings of 35% in energy costs related to steam generation. Also, with new technology systems related to the Internet of Things, a better on-time aware of needs, energy production and logistic chain information will be possible.

Keywords: energy from biomass; textile industrial sector; alternative energy; SWOT analysis; energy costs; Internet of Things (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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