IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v52y2015icp547-556.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Greenhouse gas balance from cultivation and direct land use change of recently established sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) plantation in south-central Brazil

Author

Listed:
  • 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

Abstract

Inventorying greenhouse gas (GHG) balance associated to sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) based ethanol is critical to assess the degree of carbon (C) neutrality of biofuels. Few studies have considered the GHG emissions from sugarcane cultivation while taking direct land use change (dLUC) into account. This study was conducted to enhance scientific understanding of the GHG balance related to sugarcane cultivation while considering dynamics of all C pools (biomass and soil) upon conversion of diverse land uses into sugarcane during 2006–2011 in south-central Brazil. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of survey data and given that the sugarcane cultivation and dLUC can be credibly assessed by using remote sensing satellite images, estimations of GHG emissions were performed using the IPCC methodologies and expressed in terms of Tg CO2eq (Teragram=1012 g=1 millionMg) considering a 20-year time horizon. The overall accumulated GHG balance was 217.1Tg CO2eq by 2030, with an emission of 481.6Tg CO2eq from sugarcane cultivation being offset by a biomass C sink of −274.5Tg CO2eq. Soils had an almost neutral C budget with a slight emission of 10.0Tg CO2eq by 2030. Nevertheless, the ethanol C offset by displacing fossil fuels could readily payback that C deficit and ensures the environmental benefits of sugarcane ethanol. Our results show an increase of C reservoirs (biomass and soil) through conversion of arable and pastoral lands into sugarcane, and a decrease of C reservoirs when citrus, plantation forest and natural forest are converted to sugarcane. Here we support that the impact of dLUC on biomass and soil C pools must be considered while expanding sugarcane plantation as an important mechanism for GHG abatement beyond the avoided emissions through use of sugarcane ethanol.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:52:y:2015:i:c:p:547-556
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.07.137
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115007844
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2015.07.137?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. García, Carlos A. & Fuentes, Alfredo & Hennecke, Anna & Riegelhaupt, Enrique & Manzini, Fabio & Masera, Omar, 2011. "Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions and energy balances of sugarcane ethanol production in Mexico," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 2088-2097, June.
    2. Lange, Mareike, 2011. "The GHG balance of biofuels taking into account land use change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2373-2385, May.
    3. Walter, Arnaldo & Dolzan, Paulo & Quilodrán, Oscar & de Oliveira, Janaína G. & da Silva, Cinthia & Piacente, Fabrício & Segerstedt, Anna, 2011. "Sustainability assessment of bio-ethanol production in Brazil considering land use change, GHG emissions and socio-economic aspects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 5703-5716, October.
    4. Lange, Mareike, 2011. "The GHG Balance of Biofuels Taking into Account Land Use Change (Power Point)," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114406, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Koçar, Günnur & Civaş, Nilgün, 2013. "An overview of biofuels from energy crops: Current status and future prospects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 900-916.
    6. Leal, Manoel Regis L.V. & Horta Nogueira, Luiz A. & Cortez, Luis A.B., 2013. "Land demand for ethanol production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 266-271.
    7. 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.
    8. Marcos Adami & Bernardo Friedrich Theodor Rudorff & Ramon Morais Freitas & Daniel Alves Aguiar & Luciana Miura Sugawara & Marcio Pupin Mello, 2012. "Remote Sensing Time Series to Evaluate Direct Land Use Change of Recent Expanded Sugarcane Crop in Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-12, April.
    9. Francisco F. C. Mello & Carlos E. P. Cerri & Christian A. Davies & N. Michele Holbrook & Keith Paustian & Stoécio M. F. Maia & Marcelo V. Galdos & Martial Bernoux & Carlos C. Cerri, 2014. "Payback time for soil carbon and sugar-cane ethanol," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(7), pages 605-609, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Salles-Filho, Sergio Luiz Monteiro & Castro, Paula Felício Drummond de & Bin, Adriana & Edquist, Charles & Ferro, Ana Flávia Portilho & Corder, Solange, 2017. "Perspectives for the Brazilian bioethanol sector: The innovation driver," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 70-77.
    2. Ivan Vera & Birka Wicke & Floor van der Hilst, 2020. "Spatial Variation in Environmental Impacts of Sugarcane Expansion in Brazil," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-20, October.
    3. Alkimim, Akenya & Clarke, Keith C., 2018. "Land use change and the carbon debt for sugarcane ethanol production in Brazil," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 65-73.
    4. Telmo José Mendes & Diego Silva Siqueira & Eduardo Barretto Figueiredo & Ricardo de Oliveira Bordonal & Mara Regina Moitinho & José Marques Júnior & Newton La Scala Jr., 2021. "Soil carbon stock estimations: methods and a case study of the Maranhão State, Brazil," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(11), pages 16410-16427, November.
    5. Gravina, Lilia M. & Rebecca A. de Oliveira, Tâmara & Daher, Rogério F. & Gravina, Geraldo A. & F. Vidal, Ana Kessia & Stida, Wanessa F. & Cruz, Derivaldo P. & de Sant’Anna, Camila Q.S.S. & Rocha, Rich, 2020. "Multivariate analysis in the selection of elephant grass genotypes for biomass production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 1265-1268.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Geraldes Castanheira, Érica & Grisoli, Renata & Freire, Fausto & Pecora, Vanessa & Coelho, Suani Teixeira, 2014. "Environmental sustainability of biodiesel in Brazil," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 680-691.
    2. García-Bustamante Carlos Alberto & Aguilar-Rivera Noé & Zepeda-Pirrón Manuel & Armendáriz-Arnez Cynthia, 2018. "Development of indicators for the sustainability of the sugar industry," Environmental & Socio-economic Studies, Sciendo, vol. 6(4), pages 22-38, December.
    3. Danilo Arcentales-Bastidas & Carla Silva & Angel D. Ramirez, 2022. "The Environmental Profile of Ethanol Derived from Sugarcane in Ecuador: A Life Cycle Assessment Including the Effect of Cogeneration of Electricity in a Sugar Industrial Complex," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-24, July.
    4. Söder, Mareike, 2014. "EU biofuel policies in practice: A carbon map for the Brazilian Cerrado," Kiel Working Papers 1966, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    5. Ji, Xi & Long, Xianling, 2016. "A review of the ecological and socioeconomic effects of biofuel and energy policy recommendations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 41-52.
    6. 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.
    7. Lange, Mareike & Suarez, César Freddy, 2013. "EU biofuel policies in practise: A carbon map for the Llanos orientales in Colombia," Kiel Working Papers 1864, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    8. Zhang, Bo & Sarathy, S. Mani, 2016. "Lifecycle optimized ethanol-gasoline blends for turbocharged engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 38-53.
    9. Bazilian, Morgan & Rogner, Holger & Howells, Mark & Hermann, Sebastian & Arent, Douglas & Gielen, Dolf & Steduto, Pasquale & Mueller, Alexander & Komor, Paul & Tol, Richard S.J. & Yumkella, Kandeh K., 2011. "Considering the energy, water and food nexus: Towards an integrated modelling approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7896-7906.
    10. Patel, Madhumita & Zhang, Xiaolei & Kumar, Amit, 2016. "Techno-economic and life cycle assessment on lignocellulosic biomass thermochemical conversion technologies: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1486-1499.
    11. Carneiro, Maria Luisa N.M. & Pradelle, Florian & Braga, Sergio L. & Gomes, Marcos Sebastião P. & Martins, Ana Rosa F.A. & Turkovics, Franck & Pradelle, Renata N.C., 2017. "Potential of biofuels from algae: Comparison with fossil fuels, ethanol and biodiesel in Europe and Brazil through life cycle assessment (LCA)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 632-653.
    12. Khatiwada, Dilip & Seabra, Joaquim & Silveira, Semida & Walter, Arnaldo, 2012. "Accounting greenhouse gas emissions in the lifecycle of Brazilian sugarcane bioethanol: Methodological references in European and American regulations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 384-397.
    13. Ivan Vera & Birka Wicke & Floor van der Hilst, 2020. "Spatial Variation in Environmental Impacts of Sugarcane Expansion in Brazil," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-20, October.
    14. Filoso, Solange & Carmo, Janaina Braga do & Mardegan, Sílvia Fernanda & Lins, Silvia Rafaela Machado & Gomes, Taciana Figueiredo & Martinelli, Luiz Antonio, 2015. "Reassessing the environmental impacts of sugarcane ethanol production in Brazil to help meet sustainability goals," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1847-1856.
    15. Andreas Meyer-Aurich & Yulia Lochmann & Hilde Klauss & Annette Prochnow, 2016. "Comparative Advantage of Maize- and Grass-Silage Based Feedstock for Biogas Production with Respect to Greenhouse Gas Mitigation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-14, June.
    16. Gonzalez-Salazar, Miguel Angel & Venturini, Mauro & Poganietz, Witold-Roger & Finkenrath, Matthias & L.V. Leal, Manoel Regis, 2017. "Combining an accelerated deployment of bioenergy and land use strategies: Review and insights for a post-conflict scenario in Colombia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 159-177.
    17. Boucher, Philip, 2012. "The role of controversy, regulation and engineering in UK biofuel development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 148-154.
    18. García, Carlos A. & Manzini, Fabio & Islas, Jorge M., 2017. "Sustainability assessment of ethanol production from two crops in Mexico," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1199-1207.
    19. Reyes, Y.A. & Pérez, M. & Barrera, E.L. & Martínez, Y. & Cheng, K.K., 2022. "Thermochemical conversion processes of Dichrostachys cinerea as a biofuel: A review of the Cuban case," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    20. García, Carlos A. & Riegelhaupt, Enrique & Ghilardi, Adrián & Skutsch, Margaret & Islas, Jorge & Manzini, Fabio & Masera, Omar, 2015. "Sustainable bioenergy options for Mexico: GHG mitigation and costs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 545-552.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:52:y:2015:i:c:p:547-556. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.