Sugarcane ethanol: Contributions to climate change - BAFF

Chapter 2
Table 9. Suitability of unprotected grass/scrub/wood land for rain-fed sugarcane production.
Unprotected
grass/scrub/
wood land
million ha
In total, globally some 3.2 billion hectares of land are classi�ed as unprotected forests, of
which 7.3 percent were regarded as very suitable (49 million hectares) or as suitable (some
185 million hectares; see Table 10) for rain-fed sugarcane cultivation. Of the suitable extents
in both of these prospective suitability classes, Africa and South America contribute about
85 percent of the total.
2.4. Sustainability of land use changes
Land potentially suitable, of which VS+S in grass
& wood land
Very suitable Suitable Moderately
suitable
million ha million ha million ha percent
North America 566 1.1 2.1 3.7 0.6
Europe & Russia 666 0 0 0.0 0.0
Oceania & Polynesia 519 0.4 1.6 3.2 0.4
Asia 699 1.3 5.7 22.5 1.0
Africa 973 11.9 36.0 65.0 4.9
Centr. Am. & Carib. 98 1.1 2.4 3.5 3.6
South America 613 22.0 47.2 90.8 11.3
Developed 1741 1.2 2.5 4.5 0.2
Developing 2394 36.6 92.5 184.2 5.4
World 4135 37.8 95.0 188.7 3.2
Brazil 260 7.7 26.5 49.9 13.2
India 26 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3
China 268 0.7 1.4 2.9 0.8
Thailand 12 0.0 0.1 1.2 0.6
Pakistan 14 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Source: Fisher et al., 2008; calculation by authors. Suitability classes are mutually exclusive, i.e. do
not overlap.
Sugarcane is widely accepted as one of the most promising – economically and with regard
to greenhouse gas saving potential – bioenergy feedstock options currently available.
For instance, the fossil energy ratio (output biofuel energy per unit of fossil fuel input
energy) of sugarcane ethanol was 9.3 in 2006 and is projected to reach 11.6 by 2020 with
54 Sugarcane ethanol