Greenhouse gas balances and land use changes associated with the planned expansion (to 2020) of the sugarcane ethanol industry in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Sugarcane expansion in Brazilian tropical soils—Effects of land use change on soil chemical attributes

“…The LUC from PA to SC results in SOM losses Franco et al, 2015). However, the payback time for these losses is short and overall it delivers substantial greenhouse gas emission savings when SC ethanol is used to displace fossil based fuels (Egeskog et al, 2014;Mello et al, 2014). Based on findings shown by Franco et al (2015) indicating SOC losses in regional scale as response of LUC effects, associated to strong relationship among SOC with other soil chemical properties verified in this study, we conclude that SOC is an important indicator of soil degradation and could be useful for assessing soil quality in the sugarcane fields in Brazil.…”

“…Although Brazilian sugarcane production is significant, an additional 6.4 Mha of sugarcane area would be required to meet the projected internal demand of ethanol by 2021 (61.6 billion L) (Goldemberg et al, 2014). In central-southern Brazil, sugarcane expanded primarily onto pasturelands and annual croplands, with limited expansion into areas of native vegetation (Adami et al, 2012;Egeskog et al, 2014;Hernandes et al, 2014). In the near future, sugarcane expansion is most likely to occur in areas chemical attributes, although, Geissen et al (2009) observed that soils used as pastureland became acidified.…”

Soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus changes under sugarcane expansion in Brazil

“…3b). The absence of frequent tillage on pasture land is likely to explain part of the frequently observed higher SOC stocks in pastures compared to sugarcane crops in Brazil (Egeskog et al, 2014;Mello et al, 2014). Every five years a cultivation cycle is carried in sugarcane fields with plowing and fertilization for planting of new stem cuttings, reducing soil carbon stocks over time .…”

Biomass to energy: mass and exergy assessment of carbon mitigation and triple bottom line assessment

“…Previous studies on the expansion of sugarcane production have usually analysed its carbon balance especially due to LUC, its impact on food prices given the use of croplands to produce biofuels instead of food, and its social impacts in changing the kind of human labour applied as the traditional sugarcane industry changes from manual to mechanised harvesters (EGESKOG et al, 2014;FERREIRA FILHO;HORRIDGE, 2014;GUILHOTO et al, 2002;MARTÍNEZ et al, 2013;NASSAR et al, 2008;PACCA;MOREIRA, 2009;SPAROVEK et al, 2009;ZILBERMAN et al, 2012). A multi-region input-output (MRIO) analysis can describe the interaction of distinct scenarios among economic sectors of a country.…”