Joint Water Quantity-Quality Management in a Biofuel Production Area—Integrated Economic-Hydrologic Modeling Analysis

Moraes, Márcia Maria Guedes Alcoforado de; Cai, Ximing; Ringler, Claudia; Albuquerque, Bruno Edson; Rocha, Sérgio P. Vieira da; Amorim, Carlos Alberto

doi:10.1061/(asce)wr.1943-5452.0000049

Cited by 24 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Vinasse fertirrigation improves sugarcane yields in both short and long term primarily because of its high potassium content (Resende et al 2006). However, the repeated application of vinasse may lead to potassium accumulation and leaching into the groundwater (Da Silva et al 2014b), which can potentially affect aquatic ecosystems (De Moraes et al 2010). The adverse effects of vinasse fertirrigation also include soil salinization, soil over fertilization, soil and groundwater acidification, contamination by specific ions, among others (Fuess and Garcia 2014).…”

Section: Vinasse Fertirrigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability of sugarcane production in Brazil. A review

Bordonal

Carvalho

Lal

et al. 2018

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

331

140

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Brazil is a major sugarcane producer and its production more than doubled over the last decades to meet global bioenergy demands for reducing crude oil dependency and mitigating climate change. Nevertheless, the adverse effects of this growth on jeopardizing the sustainability of sugarcane production are not known, especially when environmental impacts of agricultural inputs and production processes are not judiciously managed. This article is a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-knowledge and the main advances made thus far in the sugarcane sector. Here, we review the major environmental impacts of rapidly expanding sugarcane plantation on the land use change and its competition with food production, as well as those associated with sugarcane cultivation in Brazil. Our main finding are that sugarcane plantation did not contribute to direct deforestation, and its expansion on degraded pastures with the attendant increased yields of food crops and livestock intensification decreased land competition between food and sugarcane. Non-burning sugarcane harvesting is a win-win strategy because of its benefits involving agronomic and environmental aspects, but soil compaction is among the main issues in sugarcane cropping systems. Sugarcane is highly efficient in terms of nitrogen use efficiency, which is an important factor for its high energy balance. But, special attention should be given regarding emissions of nitrous oxide when straw mulching is combined with application of nitrogen fertilizer and vinasse. Recent advances in the sugarcane sector also show significant reductions in water consumption, making sugarcane ethanol one of the most favorable options in terms of water footprint. Growing realization of a vast potential indicates the need to further enhance the environmental benefits of sugarcane ethanol by optimizing the agricultural production chain. Based on this improved knowledge, the adoption of best management practices is among researchable priorities that can be developed to consolidate the large potential of sugarcane production towards greater sustainability.

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Section: Vinasse Fertirrigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability of sugarcane production in Brazil. A review

Bordonal

Carvalho

Lal

et al. 2018

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

331

140

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Current production of ethanol could supplement up to 80% of sugarcane plantation by fertirrigation (Christofoletti et al, 2013). A study conducted at the Pirapama basin river, home to three ethanol plants in Brazil, producing over 500,000 L of ethanol per day during the peak season, has estimated biochemical oxygen demand disposal rates of 226,335 kg on a daily basis, correspondent to a city of 4.2 million people (Alcoforado de Moraes et al, 2009). The high toxicity potential of vinasse being utilized in fertirrigation practices may lead to hydrologic, agronomic, and social problems.…”

Section: Fertirrigation Practices With Vinassementioning

confidence: 99%

Vinasse from Sugarcane Ethanol Production: Better Treatment or Better Utilization?

Reis

2017

Front. Energy Res.

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Ethanol production from sugarcane in Brazil is a well-established industry, with relatively simple operations and high yield. The ethanol primarily serves as a renewable fuel blending with gasoline and diesel to increase the energy security in Brazil. Several environmental concerns are emerged around the by-products from this industry. Vinasse, the liquid fraction generated from the rectification and distillation operations of ethanol, is a sulfur-rich, low pH, dark-colored, and odorous effluent, produced at volumes as high as 20-fold of ethanol. Traditional wastewater treatments, such as bioprocessing, advanced oxidative processes, anaerobic digestion (AD), and chemical-based processes, have been applied to vinasse management. Despite most of its utilization being in fertirrigation practices, vinasse may represent a key factor in enhancing profitability and environmental outcomes of a sugarcane-to-ethanol plant. The application of some upgrade solutions to sugarcane-derived vinasse may represent additional sources of energy, production of animal feed components, and reduction in water consumption within a plant. The use of mature technologies, yet not widespread in the sugarcane-to-ethanol industry, could help attenuate environmental concerns. Oxidation and chemical processes, AD, and microbial fermentation have been presented as alternative impactful alternatives to (i) reduce its organic and mineral load, converting it to a feedstock with fewer environmental applications when applied as fertilizer and (ii) to convert organic matter and nutrients to a nutritious biomass, simultaneously increasing water reclamation potential by plants. This mini-review article provides a critical and comprehensive summary of the alternatives developed or under development to vinasse management.

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“…Different types of constraints and mass balance are applied for different nodes. Thus, the operation of the hydrological system is driven by the economic objective of water use, environmental, physical, and legal constraints [36]. The general algebraic modeling system (GAMS) is a high-level modeling language for mathematical programming problems (linear and non-linear programming problems).…”

Section: The Hydro-economic Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decision Support for the (Inter-)Basin Management of Water Resources Using Integrated Hydro-Economic Modeling

Silva

Moraes

2021

Hydrology

Self Cite

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The development of adequate modeling at the basin level to establish public policies has an important role in managing water resources. Hydro-economic models can measure the economic effects of structural and non-structural measures, land and water management, ecosystem services and development needs. Motivated by the need of improving water allocation using economic criteria, in this study, a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) with a hydro-economic optimization model (HEAL system) was developed and used for the identification and analysis of an optimal economic allocation of water resources in a case study: the sub-middle basin of the São Francisco River in Brazil. The developed SDSS (HEAL system) made the economically optimum allocation available to analyze water allocation conflicts and trade-offs. With the aim of providing a tool for integrated economic-hydrological modeling, not only for researchers but also for decision-makers and stakeholders, the HEAL system can support decision-making on the design of regulatory and economic management instruments in practice. The case study results showed, for example, that the marginal benefit function obtained for inter-basin water transfer, can contribute for supporting the design of water pricing and water transfer decisions, during periods of water scarcity, for the well-being in both basins.

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Joint Water Quantity-Quality Management in a Biofuel Production Area—Integrated Economic-Hydrologic Modeling Analysis

Cited by 24 publications

References 7 publications

Sustainability of sugarcane production in Brazil. A review

Sustainability of sugarcane production in Brazil. A review

Vinasse from Sugarcane Ethanol Production: Better Treatment or Better Utilization?

Decision Support for the (Inter-)Basin Management of Water Resources Using Integrated Hydro-Economic Modeling

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