A sugar crossroad: Is biomass an opportunity or a problem?

Donald Guidry is President and Chief Executive Officer of Cypress Sugar Company, one of the largest of the many sugar mills operating in the Louisiana sugar belt. Cypress focuses on supplying raw sugar to a local refinery, and molasses to a regional livestock feed distributor. This case focuses on Guidry's approach to addressing an unintended consequence arising from the replacement of the plant's aging and temperamental bagasse boilers as a way to improve operational efficiency. Guidry grinned and took another sip, looking out the window onto the grounds of Cypress Sugar. Just past the last truck in the parking lot, blocking the view of the road, was a series of towering piles of sugarcane bagasse. The fibrous material, waste produced during the sugarcane grinding process, had been accumulating at previously unheard of rates this season.