Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Soil, Water & Air Resources Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #346220
Research Project: Managing Carbon and Nutrients in Midwestern U.S. Agroecosystems for Enhanced Soil Health and Environmental Quality

Location: Soil, Water & Air Resources Research

Title: Is the expansion of sugarcane over pasturelands a sustainable strategy for Brazil’s bioenergy industry?

Author
item OLIVEIRA, DENER - Luiz De Queiroz College Of Agriculture (ESALQ)
item CHERUBIN, MAURICIO - The Center Of Nuclear Energy In Agriculture
item FRANCO, ANDRE - Colorado State University
item SANTOS, AUGUSTO - Luiz De Queiroz College Of Agriculture (ESALQ)
item GELAIN, JAQUELINI - Luiz De Queiroz College Of Agriculture (ESALQ)
item DIAS, NAISSA - The Center Of Nuclear Energy In Agriculture
item DINIZ, TATIANA - The Center Of Nuclear Energy In Agriculture
item ALMEIDA, ALEXANDRE - Luiz De Queiroz College Of Agriculture (ESALQ)
item FEIGL, BRIGITTE - The Center Of Nuclear Energy In Agriculture
item DAVIES, CHRISTIAN - Shell Technology Center
item PAUSTIAN, KEITH - Colorad0 State University
item Karlen, Douglas
item SMITH, PETE - University Of Aberdeen

Submitted to: Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/9/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Land use change (LUC) is often one of the most controversial issues related to sustainability of biofuel production because of its potential effect on ecosystem services (filtering, buffering, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, etc.). This study used 62 indicators to evaluate conversion of degraded pasture to sugarcane in Brazil, and showed that the transition enhanced sustainability by 78% and improved all ecosystem services except for maintenance of biodiversity. This information will be useful to farmers, land managers, conservationists, and soil scientists in Brazil and other countries as they strive to establish sustainable advanced biofuel production systems.

Technical Abstract: The sugarcane contribution to the energy supply in Brazil by 2030 must be around 16%. Meeting this mandate probably will require a substantial increase in sugarcane production area. Potential negative effects of the land use change (LUC) on the provision of ecosystem services (ES) has raised doubts about the sustainability of biofuels. The importance of incorporating ES into biofuel policy discussions is nearing consensus, but quantitative approaches for ES assessment has proven difficult. Using pairwise comparisons of 62 sustainability indicators, and indexes properly integrated and weighted to each ES, we quantified the overall sustainability of pasture-sugarcane transitions, the most pervasive scenario for sugarcane expansion in Brazil. By considering multiple ES and properly integrating them in the Sustainability index, we found that pasture-sugarcane transitions enhanced the sustainability by 78% in Brazil. This is a result of the overall improvement of ES in areas undergoing LUC pasture-sugarcane, except for maintenance of biodiversity. Our results provide sound empirical evidence that expansion of sugarcane over pasturelands enhances environmental, economic, and social components of sustainability at the regional scale in Brazil. Finally, our approach should be taken into consideration to further biofuels sustainability assessments, since decision-making is much easier if there were a single meaningful index that could somehow include most of the aspects of sustainability.