ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of energy use in the tobacco-curing industry in Thailand that illustrates the various elements in energy pricing and demand-management. It discusses appropriate energy pricing and investment policies that could have a major effect on fuel choices in the tobacco-curing industry. The Thai tobacco industry plays a small but regionally important role in the economy of the country. Flue-cured Thai tobaccos, particularly the Virginia leaves, are famous for their quality. According to industry sources, woodfuel provides the easiest temperature control, followed by diesel or fuel oil. The only realistic fuel alternatives are either lignite or some hydro-carbon fuel, because wood fuels are in increasingly short supply. Conversion of lignite into briquettes would increase the costs of the fuel. Substitution possibilities are largely limited to energy uses that produce heat for activities such as processing, steam production, cooking, and drying. The major consideration in flue-curing of tobacco is temperature control.
