• Energy Research

Abstract Global biofuel consumption increased in 2013, following a slight decline in 2012. The bulk of ethanol comes from two countries: United States (based on corn), and Brazil (sugarcane). The International Energy Agency predicted a world market of approximately 200 BL of fuel ethanol in 2020, and both US and Brazil might keep their importance. It is still a matter of discussion the impacts of such economic activity at the level it takes place. In this sense, a research activity has been conducted aiming at evaluating the socioeconomic impacts of sugarcane activities at a municipal level. Three important states in Brazil for sugarcane production were chosen, Sao Paulo, Alagoas and Goias. Eight indicators were used to assess quality of life: Illiteracy Rate, Human Development Index, Theil Index, Percentage of Poor People, Connection to the Grid, Connection to the Sewer System, Child Mortality and Life Expectancy. The analysis of the socioeconomic indicators of the municipalities showed with statistical rigor, that in all three states studied the municipalities in which sugarcane activity is relevant with sugarcane presented, over all, better socioeconomic conditions represented by the indicators selected. However, the state of Sao Paulo was the only to present advantage for the municipalities with sugarcane, for all indicators selected. On the other hand, the differences between municipalities are not so strong in Goias state, but it is important to highlight that sugarcane production started more recently than other states. The analysis related to the evolution of the selected socioeconomic indicators of both groups did not allow the acceptance of the hypothesis that the indicators evolved differently when comparing the groups with sugarcane and without. When statistically significant, municipalities without sugarcane show better evolution. Nevertheless, considering the indicators used, the advantages of the municipalities with sugarcane are reduced in the course of time.

This study aimed to bring an overview of the impacts on water resources driven by sugarcane expansion in Brazil. Brazilian context on water resources and sugarcane expansion are presented and studies concerning sugarcane expansion impacts on water resources in Brazil are reviewed. The use of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to assess impacts due to LUC in watersheds were also appraised to understand its potential in assess those impacts. Expansion occurred mostly over pasture and annual crops, towards São Paulo state and Cerrado areas in Paraná hydrographic region. This hydrographic region demands research and public policies on this subject to assure water supply. In Brazil, impacts on water resources were generally addressed in a qualitative way. More conclusive answers are possibly linked to assessment at basin level, considering specific classes of LUC and addressing most of the hydrological processes. SWAT appears to generate reliable results in this subject. Besides the available documentation and the open source code, another advantage of this model lies on the capacity of integrating different water balance components at the same time and space, enabling a combined assessment of the effects of LUC on the evapotranspiration, crop yield, stream flow, precipitation, runoff, among others. Proceedings of the 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 12-15 June 2017, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 1525-1536

Abstract The concept of agricultural sustainability could be summarized as the ability of agricultural systems to maintain their production in the long term without depleting the available resources for future uses. This study proposes a decision support system for assessing the sustainability of the agricultural production and industrial processing of sugarcane in south-central Brazil by providing information structured according to criteria and indicators in the environmental, economic, and social dimensions. The information is organized using three tools: i) spreadsheets for evaluating technological efficiency, production efficiency and costs (Sugarcane Agro-industrial System Efficiency Index); ii) spreadsheet for evaluating sustainability indicators and generating the Sustainability Index; and iii) a combination of both indexes to construct the Sustainability Matrix and Semaphore, and to provide recommendations for sustainability management. The proposed decision support system contains a software (version 1.0, wherein all the information is available in electronic format, which helps to maximize assessment accuracy). Therefore, strategies such as the SustenAgro system, which helps to manage and to guide public policies, can improve the sector and enable suppliers and mills to ensure sustainable growth.

Land-use expansion is linked to major sustainability concerns including climate change, food security and biodiversity loss. This expansion is largely concentrated in so-called ‘frontiers’, defined here as places experiencing marked transformations owing to rapid resource exploitation. Understanding the mechanisms shaping these frontiers is crucial for sustainability. Previous work focused mainly on explaining how active frontiers advance, in particular, into tropical forests. Comparatively, our understanding of how frontiers emerge in territories considered marginal in terms of agricultural productivity and global market integration remains weak. We synthesize conceptual tools explaining resource and land-use frontiers, including theories of land rent and agglomeration economies, of frontiers as successive waves, spaces of territorialization, friction and opportunities, anticipation and expectation. We then propose a new theory of frontier emergence, which identifies exogenous pushes, legacies of past waves and actors’ anticipations as key mechanisms by which frontiers emerge. Processes of differential rent creation and capture and the built-up of agglomeration economies then constitute key mechanisms sustaining active frontiers. Finally, we discuss five implications for the governance of frontiers for sustainability. Our theory focuses on agriculture and deforestation frontiers in the tropics but can be inspirational for other frontier processes including for extractive resources, such as minerals.

AbstractBioethanol production in Brazil gained momentum in the 1970s and 1980s as an energy security and energy sufficiency measure due to the well‐known world oil crisis. However, the increase in bioethanol production and consumption in the past couple of decades has been backed by the country's efforts and measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transport sector. Brazil is the second largest producer of biofuels, and its production continues to increase because of the commitments made in the Paris Agreement in 2015. This study reviews several key policies designed to develop Brazilian bioethanol production and to protect the environment. It is argued that many of these policies do not consider land use change or encourage land protection to achieve sustainable land use and agricultural production. Thus, this work aims to understand the importance and impacts of public policies in expanding sugarcane in Brazil in the past 34 years, with regard to land use and native vegetation. The discussion in this paper addresses the inadequacy of current policies to avoid direct and indirect land use change caused by sugarcane expansion, despite incentives such as 17 Sustainable Development Goals from the United Nations and certification schemes. The data presented indicate an indirect effect caused by the expansion of sugarcane over pasture areas, which leads to further clearing of natural vegetation to establish new pasture areas. Ultimately, this study addresses the importance of zero deforestation in Brazil, regardless of the crop that causes the conversion. Without conjoint efforts by all sectors of the economy to curtail deforestation, the sustainability of producing biofuels is not guaranteed, as the emissions caused by deforestation will not be offset by the lower GHG emissions obtained by using ethanol as a transport fuel. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Sugarcane ethanol has been produced in Brazil since the early 20th century, but production increased in the mid‐1970s aiming at substituting 20% of the gasoline. Despite an increase in the 2000s production has been stable since 2008. This paper presents a review of the main developments achieved and future challenges. The sector has had positive economic and environmental results through technological development, as a result of research and development by private companies and strong public support. Sugarcane yield has steadily increased and positively impacted production costs, primarily due to better agronomic practices and breeding programs. Owing to environmental and economic reasons, there are on‐going programs to phase out burning, with the gradual replacement of manual harvest with burning by unburnt mechanised harvest. Important agronomic impacts are expected, caused by the large amount of straw left on the soil surface, which also represents a significant bioenergy potential. The sugarcane industry in Brazil has taken advantage of the combined production of sugar and ethanol, and, recently, many mills have enlarged their revenues with surplus electricity. The current efforts for diversification aim at ethanol production through hydrolysis of sugarcane residues and the development of chemical routes. From an environmental point of view, impacts related to land use change are expected on greenhouse emissions, water resources, and biodiversity. Ethanol production is likely to expand in Brazil due to the potential size of the domestic market and to the opportunities for exporting, but this will occur in a context of different and new challenges.WIREs Energy Environ2014, 3:70–92. doi: 10.1002/wene.87This article is categorized under:Bioenergy > Economics and PolicyBioenergy > Systems and InfrastructureBioenergy > Climate and Environment