Embodied energy of sugarcane harvesters

Autor(es)

Mantoam, Edemilson J. ^[1] ; Milan, Marcos ^[2] ; Gimenez, Leandro M. ^[1] ; Romanelli, Thiago L. ^[2]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Luiz de Queiroz Coll Agr, BR-05508 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Luiz de Queiroz Coll Agr, Dept Biosyst Engn, BR-05508 Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING; v. 118, p. 156-166, FEB 2014.
• Citações Web of Science: 5

Resumo

Intensification of agricultural production has largely been based on higher energy demand. In Brazil, sugarcane cultivation, ethanol production and the adoption of mechanised harvesting have increased since 2000 due to economic decisions and environmental constraints. Evaluating the energy demand in production systems is a way to measure how intensification is converted into yield, mainly in energy crops such as sugarcane. The energy embodiment in agricultural machinery has been studied, but generally based on data from automotive production. This study aimed to determine the energy demanded in the life cycle of a sugarcane harvester. It is aimed at providing suggestions for further studies approaching other machinery and to provide detailed material flows, in order to give support for other environmental evaluations. Two harvesters were evaluated: Harvester 1 (H1), with steel wheels and rubber tyres and Harvester 2 (H2) with metal tracks. The embodied energy of the life cycle of a sugarcane harvester included the repair and maintenance phase, the directly used inputs, the indirect inputs and the depreciated infrastructure, whose shares on the energy demand were, respectively, 72.0%, 27.4%, 0.6% and 0.0% for H1 and 72.8%, 26.7%, 0.5% and 0.0 for H2. The indices relating energy demand with life cycle (time), mass and power were 138.8 MJ h(-1) 202.6 MJ kg(-1) and 11.6 GJ kW(-1), for H1 and 159.8 MJ h(-1), 204.3 MJ kg(-1) and 13.3 GJ kW(-1), for H2. (C) 2013 IAgrE. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 10/11723-5 - Incorporação de energia na vida útil de uma colhedora autopropelida de cana-de-açúcar
• Beneficiário: Thiago Libório Romanelli
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular