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Advantages of Solar for the Pulp and Paper Industry

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The paper industry in India has been witnessing a paradigm shift in consumption. The demand for newsprint paper and writing paper has been dwindling due to rapid digitization and at the same time, the demand for packaging paper is consistently increasing because of the rapid rise in e-commerce which requires packaging for delivery.

As far as revenue is concerned, the paper industry today is plagued by rising raw material costs and increasing fuel prices. These factors are negatively impacting the paper industry’s earnings. An important point to consider is that the paper industry is one of the highest consumers of energy as well as contributes heavily to polluting the environment. Hence, the need of the hour for this industry as a whole is to consider shifting towards solar energy to meet their growing energy demands and in the process curtail a significant amount of carbon emission.

The paper industry consumes power in both electrical and thermal forms. Processes involved in the pulp and paper industry which require thermal energy to generate steam and heat water are pulp making, pulp processing, water treatment, steam and power generation as well as effluent treatment. These processes can be effectively carried out by utilizing concentrated solar power technologies thereby decreasing or eliminating the need for non-renewable sources of power like coal.

All the major processes carried out in the paper industry require temperatures below 250 degrees centigrade which can be easily attained by solar thermal technologies. Some of these technologies include solar water heating systems and air heating systems.

Solar water heaters can be used for boiler applications, which will save the use of a substantial amount of fuel for boilers. Also, solar air heating systems can be used for drying applications and can be employed efficiently and effectively in the pulp and paper industry. These novel solutions will not only reduce the dependence of this industry on fossil fuels but will also greatly reduce the operations cost of the pulp and paper industry.

Apart from intrinsic operations, a solar rooftop power plant installation is another great way to save energy costs. Once installed the solar power plant can generate free electricity for up to 20 years and in the process safeguard the industry from rising energy costs.

Scintilla Solar Corporation has been working consistently over the years to solarise industries across all segments. The pulp and paper industry is one of the segments that Scintilla Solar Corporation is aiding to not only curtail fuel prices and rising energy costs but also reduce the carbon emission caused due to the dependence of this segment on fossil fuels.

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