4,000 tons per year. Disposal
of these waste products is a major problem for the many small cotton ginning
businesses.Waste Biomass as a Renewable Feedstock
According to experiments conducted at the USDA Cotton Ginning Laboratory in
Stoneville, MS, an average of 100 pounds of cotton waste is produced for each
bale of cotton ginned. About 1,850,000 bales of cotton are ginned in
the Delta counties of Mississippi. This ginning produces approximately 92,500
tons of cotton waste. In addition, cotton seed processing wastes (linters) from
processing plants in Mississippi are approximately 4,000 tons per year. Disposal
of these waste products is a major problem for the many small cotton ginning
businesses.
Statistics indicate that much of our biomass resources are being landfilled or open-dumped into uncontrolled waste pits and open areas. In essence, Mississippi is wasting valuable fuel feedstocks by paying to dispose of them or contaminating the environment with these high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) laden wastes. This predicament is not unique to Mississippi or the United States. The wasting of biomass is a world-wide energy loss and environmental disposal problem.