Abstract
This study was designed to investigate the sustainability of using biomass as fuel for industrial boilers within the manufacturing sector, with particular reference to Cargill Ghana Limited, located within the Free zones enclave of Tema. The research was designed to achieve four specific objectives including; The identification of the social-economic benefits of using biomass as boiler fuel; Examination of the potential environmental impact of biomass as boiler fuel; Determination of the impact of fossil fuel cost on the adoption of biomass as boiler fuel; and Identification of the challenges which hinder sustainability in the adoption of biomass as boiler fuel. Adopting a convenient sampling model, a sample size of 65 was evaluated from Cargill’s population of 187 using sample calculator. The primary data was collected with the aid of interviews and questionnaires administered on suppliers and staff respectively. The acquired data was analysed with tables, pie charts, histograms and mathematical interpretations for the demographics, and tables along with central tendencies of frequencies for the main survey. The findings reveal that an average of 74.1% of the participants agree that biomass as a boiler fuel has some socio-economic benefits. While majority of the participants remained neutral, only 28.6% indicated that the adoption of biomass has environmental consequences. The findings further show that 73.1% of the people agree that the continuous increases in the prices of fossil fuel have triggered high adoption of biomass. Lastly, 54.2% of the participants believe that climatic factors such as, land allocation and land tenure; occupational accidents and illness; deforestation and land degradation; and the level of wood harvest directly affect sustainability of the production and use of biomass. In view of the findings, the research proposed some recommendations to ensure sustainability in biomass fuel. Notable among these is the use of highly efficient boilers to cut down emissions, and the investigation of factors affecting sustainability and finding solutions to them. When the recommendations are effectively implemented, the study would immensely benefit Cargill and the policy makers.