Environmental and economic impacts of different sugarcane production systems in the ethanol biorefinery

Autor(es)

Chagas, Mateus F. ^{[1, 2]} ; Bordonal, Ricardo O. ^[3] ; Cavalett, Otavio ^[2] ; Carvalho, Joao Luis N. ^[2] ; Bonomi, Antonio ^{[1, 2]} ; La Scala, Jr., Newton ^[3]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[2] CNPEM, CTBE, Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: BIOFUELS BIOPRODUCTS & BIOREFINING-BIOFPR; v. 10, n. 1, p. 89-106, JAN-FEB 2016.
• Citações Web of Science: 15

Resumo

Economic and environmental impacts of ethanol biorefineries with different sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) production technologies are evaluated with a focus on harvesting systems, reduced tillage, controlled traffic farming to reduce soil compaction, and alternatives of sugarcane rotation. Results showed that scenarios with sunn hemp (Crotolaria juncea) as a rotation crop in the sugarcane cycle present great potential to decrease environmental impacts of sugarcane biorefineries. Although reduced tillage promotes a reduction in sugarcane production costs in comparison to conventional tillage, it only cause a slightly decrease (less than 5%) on ethanol environmental impacts. Use of soybean (Glycine max) as a rotation crop yields an extra source of income, increasing the net agricultural revenues by 15% compared to scenario with sunn hemp. However, better economic and environmental impacts for sugarcane biorefinery are obtained with use of sunn hemp in the crop rotation and controlled traffic farming. Sugarcane production using controlled traffic farming allows an increased number of harvesters, with consequent reduction of 43% in greenhouse gases emissions, 24% in fossil depletion, and 44% in acidification potential when compared to burned cane scenario. These results reinforce that better agricultural management practices should be used to maximize number of cuts in the sugarcane cycle. (c) 2015 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley \& Sons, Ltd (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 10/17139-3 - Avaliação de impactos ambientais de diferentes configurações de biorrefinaria de cana-de-açúcar com aproveitamento integral da biomassa
• Beneficiário: Otavio Cavalett
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOEN - Jovens Pesquisadores
• Processo FAPESP: 08/58187-0 - Impacto das práticas de gestão sobre a emissão de CO2 do solo em áreas de produção de cana, Sul do Brasil
• Beneficiário: Newton La Scala Júnior
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa de Pesquisa sobre Mudanças Climáticas Globais - Temático