A produção de etanol de cana no Estado da Paraíba: alternativas de sustentabilidade

Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente

卷:24

关键词: ethanol;    sugar cane;    sustainability;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Brazil’s abundance regarding natural resources, low-waged manual labor and high productivity in the last decades generated advantages in producing ethanol cane. However, exports face trade barriers and allegations of environmental damage since pre-harvest burning causes GHG emissions. Cane burning is a worldwide common practice but this scenario has changed in Brazil through an initiative of the São Paulo State government in cooperation with the industry’s leaders: as an alternative to burning they are working toward the gradual increase of all cane residues’ collection, being used as biomass. This might co-generate input for the electricity production. The State of Paraíba is the third largest producer of ethanol cane in the Brazilian Northeast Region and data suggests the economic relevance of this production for one of the poorest Brazilian States: about 40% of the sugar cane is produced by micro and small suppliers. However, state-level legislation for reducing cane burning is absent. Therefore, this study presents the results of a survey for local producers’ measures regarding sustainability. Also, this study seeks to estimate, by using economic valuation methods, the potential gains through a supposed elimination of cane burning. The survey indicated that Paraíba’s ethanol industry has extended the techniques for the re-use of production waste as a substitute for agricultural-chemical products and for electric power generation. The main conclusion is that local producers have notably acknowledged the environmental and economic advantages of reducing cane burning, since they provided information regarding their planning for reducing it from 2011 onwards as a private initiative.

【 授权许可】

Unknown