CLEWISTON — December 14, 2006 — Boiler 8, a component of U.S. Sugar Corporation’s Clewiston Mill Breakthrough project, has received the Energy Institute’s 2006 Environment Award.
The initial cost of a bagasse-fired boiler this size is $15-20 million. In the United States, the emissions-control equipment and installation are roughly the same, doubling the cost of power generation boilers here compared to similar boilers in many other sugar producing countries. Boiler 8 began operations in January 2005 and has consistently and efficiently operated with a high standard of emissions control, according to Thermal Energy Systems, the company that engineered the boiler. The Energy Institute awards celebrate excellence and innovation within the international energy industry. England-based Energy Institute is the leading organization dedicated to the energy industry “This Energy Institute award further validates U.S. Sugar’s commitment to the environment and underscores our success in powering our facilities with clean, renewable energy,” said Judy Sanchez, director of corporate communications. The boilers produce steam during the milling process by burning the bagasse. Steam is co-generated into electricity on-site. In essence, each year’s cane crop provides power for both the mill and U.S. Sugar’s Refinery operations. The Energy Institute, in announcing the winners of its annual energy environmental awards, said the Clewiston Mill boiler sets a new standard for emissions control. To win the award, U.S. Sugar and Thermal Energy Systems had to demonstrate that the boiler has a benefit to the environment, has good prospects for wider application and maintains a sustainable benefit. The addition of Boiler 8 is just one component of U.S. Sugar’s plans to modernize and automate its sugar processing facilities in Clewiston. The radical transformation of the Clewiston mill will make it one of the largest and most efficient sugar mills in the world, processing up to 42,000 tons of sugarcane per day. “Trade agreements continue to increase the amount of foreign sugar entering our markets, displacing American-grown and produced sugar. U.S. industrial sugar users have moved many of their operations overseas to take advantage to lower labor and environmental costs, further decreasing U.S. sugar sales and revenue,” said Robert Coker, senior vice president of public affairs. “NAFTA will completely open U.S. borders to Mexican sugar in 2008 and other trade agreements will continue to put pressure on the over-supplied U.S. Market.” “In response, the mill consolidation and high tech automation of the Clewiston Mill, a project that has been dubbed Breakthrough for the radical transformation it is intended to provide, will ensure U.S. Sugar is competitive in the global marketplace,” Coker said. United States Sugar Corporation is the country’s largest producer of sugar cane and refined cane sugar. The company also is one of Florida’s major producers of oranges and orange juice products. In addition, U.S. Sugar owns a short line railroad, the South Central Florida Express. U.S. Sugar has successfully combined traditional farming values with modern technology that is compatible with the environment and with the economic realities of the new millennium. ###
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U.S. Sugar’s bagasse-fired Boiler 8 was recognized as having among the lowest emissions of any bagasse boiler in the United States. The state-of-the-art boiler is fueled by bagasse, the residual cane fiber resulting from the raw milling process. One ton of bagasse as fired is equal to approximately 50 gallons of oil.