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Impact of mechanization and previous burning reduction on GHG emissions of sugarcane harvesting operations in Brazil

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  • Capaz, Rafael Silva
  • Carvalho, Vanessa Silveira Barreto
  • Nogueira, Luiz Augusto Horta

Abstract

Ethanol production from sugarcane under Brazilian conditions has resulted in positive economic, energetic and environmental indicators, primarily due to a high agro-industrial yield, recycling of by-products and bagasse utilization for power generation. Following the trends of improvement in the overall processes and increasing environmental constraints, the extensive use of labor and previous burning in sugarcane harvesting has been progressively replaced by mechanical harvesting without the need for burning.Currently, this operation is performed in three ways: manual harvesting with previous burning, mechanical harvesting with previous burning, and mechanical harvesting of green sugarcane. Generally, the main reason for use of previous burning in sugarcane fields is the elimination of straw to facilitate manual cutting. However, studies indicate emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and, mainly, other pollutants. associated with this practice. In Brazil, specific environmental laws and protocols have established a progressive reduction in previous burning aimed at total elimination in the next decade. In addition, an increase in the use of mechanical harvesting due to high productivity compared with manual cutting has been observed. In this context, this study has estimated the specific GHG emissions (tonCO2eq/ha) in sugarcane harvesting as a function of the simultaneous reduction of previous burning and increase in the use of mechanization.The estimates were applied to the sugarcane harvesting area of the São Paulo State, which is responsible for approximately half of Brazilian production. Considering the period between 1990 and 2009, the GHG emissions from sugarcane fields were estimated considering the shares of areas with mechanical harvesting and previous burning use, agricultural yield, diesel consumption by machinery, and straw/stalk ratio. The estimation was carried out using two approaches: an estimation that considered only the share of areas with harvesting practices, and a complete estimation, in which all parameters were accounted for over the years. In a Business as Usual scenario (BAU), the specific GHG emissions progressed from 1.015 to 0.633tonCO2eq/ha using the first approach, and from 1.053 to 0.639tonCO2eq/ha with the second. The reduction represented a change of 37.6% and 39.3% in the last 20years, respectively. The progressive decrease in previous burning was determining factor for this observation, responsible for an average of 80% of total emissions from harvesting operations. Two additional Reference Scenarios were considered: the sugarcane was manually harvested in the first scenario and mechanically harvested in the second. When compared with the BAU scenario, the average reduction of GHG emissions was 17.4% and 26.7%, respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Capaz, Rafael Silva & Carvalho, Vanessa Silveira Barreto & Nogueira, Luiz Augusto Horta, 2013. "Impact of mechanization and previous burning reduction on GHG emissions of sugarcane harvesting operations in Brazil," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 220-228.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:102:y:2013:i:c:p:220-228
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.09.049
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    1. C-C. Tsao & J. E. Campbell & M. Mena-Carrasco & S. N. Spak & G. R. Carmichael & Y. Chen, 2012. "Increased estimates of air-pollution emissions from Brazilian sugar-cane ethanol," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 2(1), pages 53-57, January.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Rodriguez, Renata del G. & Scanlon, Bridget R. & King, Carey W. & Scarpare, Fabio V. & Xavier, Alexandre C. & Pruski, Fernando F., 2018. "Biofuel-water-land nexus in the last agricultural frontier region of the Brazilian Cerrado," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 1330-1345.
    3. Julio Cesar Marques & Fernando Gasi & Sergio Ricardo Lourenço, 2024. "Biofuel in the Automotive Sector: Viability of Sugarcane Ethanol," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-24, March.
    4. Lazaro, Lira Luz Benites & Giatti, Leandro Luiz & Bermann, Celio & Giarolla, Angelica & Ometto, Jean, 2021. "Policy and governance dynamics in the water-energy-food-land nexus of biofuels: Proposing a qualitative analysis model," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    5. Deping Ye & Shangsong Zhen & Wei Wang & Yunqiang Liu, 2023. "Spatial double dividend from China’s main grain-producing areas policy: total factor productivity and the net carbon effect," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-22, December.
    6. de Oliveira Bordonal, Ricardo & Lal, Rattan & Alves Aguiar, Daniel & de Figueiredo, Eduardo Barretto & Ito Perillo, Luciano & Adami, Marcos & Theodor Rudorff, Bernardo Friedrich & La Scala, Newton, 2015. "Greenhouse gas balance from cultivation and direct land use change of recently established sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) plantation in south-central Brazil," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 547-556.
    7. Zhang, Bo & Sarathy, S. Mani, 2016. "Lifecycle optimized ethanol-gasoline blends for turbocharged engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 38-53.

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