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Sauer, Sérgio; Pietrafesa, José Paulo; Pietrafesa, Pedro Araujo --- "Climate change and agrofuels: Brazilian ethanol and the Cerrado biome" [2017] ELECD 511; in Angelo, Jane Mary; Du Plesis, Anél (eds), "Research Handbook on Climate Change and Agricultural Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 331

Book Title: Research Handbook on Climate Change and Agricultural Law

Editor(s): Angelo, Jane Mary; Du Plesis, Anél

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781784710637

Section: Chapter 12

Section Title: Climate change and agrofuels: Brazilian ethanol and the Cerrado biome

Author(s): Sauer, Sérgio; Pietrafesa, José Paulo; Pietrafesa, Pedro Araujo

Number of pages: 36

Abstract/Description:

The aim of this chapter is to analyze the expansion of ethanol production and sugarcane cultivation in the Brazilian Biome called Cerrado and its impacts on national levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The main argument is that the production cycle of ethanol not only emits a large quantity of GHG, but also causes environmental and social problems in the regions where it is cultivated. Sugarcane, has been part of Brazilian agricultural history since the colonial era. More recently, it has been used to produce both sugar and/or ethanol, and the production of ethanol has increased greatly since the development of flex-fuel vehicles. After 2005, the Brazilian sugarcane harvest expanded by 69 percent due to the Brazilian National Agro Energy Plan (2006–2011), Sugarcane Agroecological Zoning, governmental financial incentives and international capital investments. It has a strong commercial appeal because of the ‘potential for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions’. Thus, the emissions were calculated using a method developed by Claros Garcia and Von Sperling (2010), concluding that the production cycle of ethanol is responsible for approximately 8.33 percent of total GHG emissions in Brazil. Besides such impact and despite the advances in technologies for the cultivation of sugarcane, the agrofuel industry is one of the main contributors to social and environmental issues in the Brazilian countryside. Key Words: sugarcane ethanol, Cerrado Biome, land use, environmental impacts, GHG, Brazil