Bangladesh textile sector reconsiders energy sources after gas crisis

* Textile industry relies on gasoline, faces severe fuel shortage

The burning of biomass is a growing trend in industry, but the supply is limited

Experts recommend electric boilers, renewables and other alternatives

Tahmid?Zami Tahmid ?Zami

Bangladesh exports around 80% and generates 13% of GDP through its textile industry.

Gas is used heavily in the wet processing of clothes, such as dyeing, washing and finishing.

Bangladesh has been experiencing a gas shortage for a number of years due to a decline in local production and an increase in import costs.

Qatar, the largest LNG exporter in the world, has announced that its LNG supply to Bangladesh is being cut back due to Iran's closeness of the Strait of Hormuz as well as Iran's "bombing" of Qatari LNG facilities.

According to Petrobangla, a fire last month at one of Bangladesh’s two LNG terminals reduced supply to less than half the demand.

Mohd. Khorshed alam, a Bangladesh Textile Mills Association director, said that a number of factories operating in the industrial belts Savar, Ashulia, and Narayanganj were now operating up to 40% under capacity.

In order to meet urgent orders, some factories have turned to diesel or even more expensive compressed natural gas at roadside filling station.

The country cannot build its future industrial investments on the uncertain LNG supply and repeated disruptions. "We need energy security and not a piecemeal approach to firefighting," stated Fazlul Huque, the managing director of Plummy Fashions, a leading textile producer in Bangladesh.

Hoque's Narayanganj factory employs over 1,000 people, and its energy supply has been disrupted for many years. He is now considering the use of alternative fuels, such as biomass and electrification.

Looking for Alternatives

Most rural households in Bangladesh cook with biomass, which is made up of pellets from agricultural residues such as rice husks, jute, wheat straws, bagasse, and jute straws, as well wood residues, and municipal waste.

Several textile factories are already using biomass as fuel for their boilers.

The Apparel impact Institute, an organization that focuses on decarbonising apparel supply chains, has a regional lead for South Asia, Southeast Asia, Dr. Laxmikant Jagale.

He said that Bangladesh's infrastructure and logistics for the industrial aggregation of biomass are still underdeveloped. Switching to biomass would require investment in boiler retrofitting, as well as a change in how fuel is stored, handled, burned, and removed.

"Biomass thus cannot ?be a sector-wide strategy, rather ?it works better as a facility-by-facility, case-by-case option," Jawale said.

Installing electric boilers or heat pumps could reduce energy consumption by as much as 45%.

The Apparel Institute stated in a study last year that "installing heat pumps" would require a large capital investment, and that grid-connected boilers alone could not make up for the energy deficit.

Jawale said that "improving grid access and reliability" for factories throughout the country would send a clear message to the market that grid electricity - and renewable electricity if possible - is what industry needs.

Alam, a member of?the BTMA?is also the managing director of Little Group?a company that spins yarn. He has installed solar panels on his roof and batteries to store energy at his plants.

(source: Reuters)