Production and use of fuel ethanol in Brazil - BAFF

B. Sugar-cane and ethanol
production: environmental aspects
B1. Soil use (food, energy): the Brazilian
context
B1.1.
Won’t the increase in sugar-cane production,
taking up huge areas in Brazil, bring about
difficulties with food production?
With an 850 million hectares (ha) area, Brazil has a large fraction of its territory with
the conditions to economically sustain the agricultural production, while maintaining
vast forest areas with different biomes. Today, farming areas amount to 60 million
ha (just about 7 percent of the territory, 21 million ha of which taken up by soybean
crops, and 12 million ha by corn). “Pasture” areas correspond to around 227 million
ha, including a portion displaying a certain level of degradation; forest areas (including
commercial wood production) total 464 million ha. Estimates by EMBRAPA 10 indicate
that there are still 100 million hectares that can support the growing of annual-cycle
species. Additionally, an area equivalent to 20 million hectares is expected to be freed
up thanks to technological improvements in cattle breeding.
The area currently covered with sugar-cane crops represent only 0.6 percent of
the country’s territory (0.3 percent for ethanol, which substitutes for 40 percent of
the gasoline that would otherwise be used as it is). Therefore, in the case of Brazil
there is no conflict between land uses for food (of which Brazil is a major exporter)
and energy.
B1.2.
Nevertheless, could the expansion threaten areas
where important biomes are intended to be
preserved?
The expansion of sugar-cane growing over the past 25 years essentially took place
in Brazil’s Center-South region, in areas far away from the current biomes of the
Amazon Rain Forest, the Atlantic Forest and the Pantanal. From 1992 until 2003,
0/ Castiglioni, V. B. R. EMBRAPA. In: “Avaliação da Expansão da produção de etanol no Brasil”, CGEE-NAE, Brasília,
2004.
B. Sugar-cane and ethanol production: environmental aspects
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