sugarcane in brazil: past, present and future
TRANSCRIPT
Sugarcane in Brazilpast, present and future
Andreza Vieira Dantasfor Energy and Society –Fall, 2014
Sugarcane around the worldpast and present
How sugarcane spread around the world
1,000BC Reached Asia mainland Plants taken to China and India and then were crossed with Saccharum spontaneum [1]
Indians processed into a powder, medicine for headaches, stomach flutters, impotence[2]
10,000/6,000 years ago Sugarcane was domesticated on the island of New Guinea Plants with high sucrose selected and adapted for cultivation[1]
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600/500BC Reached Iraq/Iran - Persia[1]
Rulers entertained guests with a plethora of sweets[2]
AD700 Arabs adopted the crop and took it to Egypt and spread to Syria, Cyprus, Crete and eventually Spain[1].
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1400s Portuguese introduced sugar to Madeira island and then reached Canary islands, Azores, and West Africa[1]
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1500sThe crop was taken to: Mexico (1520) Brazil (1532) Peru (1533) and later to the British and French West Indies. Madeira became the largest exporter [1].
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Sources: [map] Natural History Museum. - http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/plants-fungi/seeds-of-trade/page.dsml?section=crops&ref=sugar_cane&cat_ref=®ion_ID=&time_ref=&page=spread&origTimeID=&origTimePoint=&origTpTitle=&origPage=[1] National History Museum. Seeds of Trade. London. - http://www.nhm.ac.uk/seeds[2] National Geographic – Sugar Love, Rich Cohen, Aug, 2013. - http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/sugar/cohen-text
Nowadays, things are almost the same… same regions, but different context!
Brazil, India, China, Thailand and Pakistan have 80% of the sugarcane’s world production [1]
Source: [map] Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarcane#mediaviewer/File:SugarcaneYield.png
[1] FAOSTAT - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - http://faostat.fao.org/site/339/default.aspx
Sugarcane in the world
Sugarcane cyclewhen everything has started
A bit about Brazilian history
1500 – Pedro Álvares Cabral fleet, in route to India, reached Northeastern coast of Brazil [1]
Portuguese main interests: gold and silver [2]
What did they find?
No gold for them in the 1500s!
Indigenous population (índios) + nature
Pau-brasil (Brazil wood - wood with deep red hue) was the first product they exploited!
30 years after their arrival…
Pau-brasil became more and more scarce – depletion led to deforestation in the coastal area by 1875[3]
Portuguese needed other product to diversify trade
Pictures: [top] “Desembarque de Cabral em Porto Seguro” painting, by Oscar Pereira da Silva -http://www.cabecadecuia.com/files/2013/04/22/7687_9fa5304205611f6b7059ed2f0a882cdfg.jpg[bottom] Detail of map of Brasil painting, by Giácomo Gastaldi, 1550 -http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001-37652007000400014&lng=en&nrm=iso
Sources: [1] http://countrystudies.us/brazil/4.htm ; [2] http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/history-of-colonial-brazil ; [3] SUAREZ, V. C. D. M. (1977). Brazilian trees and their adaptation in the Southern USA. Journal of Arboriculture. Feb.,1977. p. 35-36. http://joa.isa-arbor.com/request.asp?JournalID=1&ArticleID=1431&Type=2
The sugarcane cycle (1530 to 1700)
In the 1400s
Europeans fell in love with sugar, - rare and noble product [1]
The trade with the East became difficult![1]
In the 1500s and later…
1533 – Martim Afonso de Sousa brought the 1st sugarcane sprouts [2]
Sugarcane was a big deal! Brazil had all the ingredients to grow it …
Martin Afonso de Sousa brought 1st
bud of sugarcane to Brazil
fertile (abundant) soil + tropical climate + slaves + know-how = $$$ [1]
Indigenous + African slaves
Indigenous were decimated by disease killed (diseases) and were substituted by African slaves
Sources: [1] National Geographic – Sugar Love, Rich Cohen, Aug, 2013. - http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/sugar/cohen-text[2] Britannica Escola Online - http://escola.britannica.com.br/article/483229/engenho-de-acucar
The sugarcane society and the farms
Source: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_v9K1WlYSXJI/SeqbQDYMNoI/AAAAAAAAANg/vqxzlPpwrww/s400/pir%C3%A2mide+social+do+brasil+a%C3%A7ucareiro.jpg
Source: http://jubran.deviantart.com/art/engenho-cana-Brazil-sec-XVIII-77980514
Aristocrats
Free men
Slaves
Sugar Society
The sugarcane farms (engenhos)
Big House (Casa Grande) Where the owner and his family lived
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Family Chapel (Capela)3
Slave quarters (Senzala) Where the slaves were kept
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Sugar Mill (Moinho de Açúcar) Place where the equipment to grind the sugarcane was installed
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Furnaces (Fornalhas) Where the cane juice was boiled and purified copper pots
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Hangars (Galpões) Where the sugar blocks were stocked
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Sugarcane field (Canavial)7
The power of sugarcanethe present
12.8%Natural Gas &
Coal
39.3%Petroleum & Oil
Products
12.5%Hydro
16.1%Sugarcane
8.3%Firewood and
Charcoal
1.3%Uranium
4.2%Other Renewables
Sugarcane, Brazil’s energy grid and industry
Source: BEN (2014)
Sugarcane is the top
source among the renewables
Brazil has one of the world’s cleanestenergy grids[3]
1970s: Sugarcane production start to boom as well as ethanol vehicles production/sales
Early 2000s: another car sales boom, but now Flexfuelvehicles
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1973 oil crisis –Mid-Eastern countries proclaimed an oil embargo. In 1974, oil price rose $3 /barrel to ~ $12[1]
1975 –Brazil launched Pro-Alcohol program [2]
32005 – More than 500mil flexfuelvehicles [4]
Sugarcane crops occupy:
1.1% of the country’s total land
3.7% of Brazil’s arable lands (pasture + agriculture)
… and produce over 720 million tons
per crop year - twice #2 India[2]
Ethanol uses 0.5% of the national territory
Northeastern areaHarvest cycle: Sep. -Mar. 15% of sugarcane production
Production concentrated in South-Central areasHarvest cycle: Apr. –Dec.85% of sugarcane production
Land Use in Brazil[1]
Sugarcane in Brazil: context
Notes: 1 hectare = 2.5 acres . Other uses include hydrography. Source: [1] UNICA (2013) – compiled data from different sources.
50% sugar50% ethanol
Sugar types: raw, crystal, brown and
refined
Syrup and molasses Rapadura Lactic acid
Sugar
The sugarcane power
Ethanol
Anhydrous ethanol (blended into
gasoline)
Alcohols (e.g.: cosmetic/pharmacy industries)
Alcohols
Cogeneration (bioelectricity)
Biogas Biodiesel Paper Bioplastic and more
Biomasscane waste = bagasse + straw
Vinasse uses (by-product from ethanol processing): methane production, fermentation, fertigation, yeast and energy production
Raw cane: cane juice / cachaça (distilled cane juice)
and moreOther
Disadvantages
Hard to use ethanol fuel in cold weather
Shortcomings of ethanol fuel (scarcity x price)
Sugarcane does not fit temperate climates[3]
Brazil
#1 largest producer of sugarcane ethanol~23.2bi L (2012/13) and #2 largest producer of ethanol (#1 U.S.)[1]
Gasoline in Brazil has a blend of 18% to 25% of anhydrous ethanol (ethanol dehydrated) [1]
Ethanol has been replacing 50% of Brazil’s gasoline needs[1]
Flexfuel(ethanol/gasoline) vehicles are pretty common and convenient now in Brazil
Biodiesel law (2005 to 2014): progressive goals. B2 (vegetable diesel + 2% ethanol) to B7 (vegetable diesel + 7% ethanol)[5]
Benefits (not only… we are going to talk more later)
Cleaner air: adds oxygen to gasoline and helps to reduce air pollution/harmful emissions[1]
Reduced GHG emissions: cuts off CO2 emissions by 90% in average compared to gasoline[1]
Better performance: high-octane fuel[1]
Alternative energy: to fossil fuels[1]
Versatility: same plant produces many by-products[1]
Better ethanol: 370% more energy than it spends to obtain it (US ethanol only 10%) [2]
High productivity: more ethanol/acre than corn[3]
Game changer against climate change [4]
Ethanol Ethanol production
Gas stations in Brazil
How does an ethanol plant
work?
Source: RevistaÉpoca. Ed. Globo-http://epoca.globo.com/infograficos/526_usina_alcool.html
Ethanol
95.1% ethanol (minimum) + 4.9% water
Flexfuelengines, ethanol engines -more common in compact cars
Gasoline
75% -80% gasoline + 20% -25% anhydrous (blended)
3 versions: regiuar(25% anhydrous), special (additives) and premium (additives + high-octane –cleaner , less sulfur residues)
Flexfuelengines, gas engines –compact to SUVs and Vans
Diesel
95% diesel + 5% biodiesel (enforced by law)
More common in heavy vehicles , largely used for transportation.
NGV - Natural Gas Vehicular Fuel commonly used by taxicabs
Gas stations in BrazilWhat’s your fuel?
BioelectricityIn Brazil
2/3 of the sugarcane energy is stored in the leftover cane fiber (bagasse + straw)[1]
Leftover is burned and converted into electricity in the ethanol and sugar plants (cogeneration)
Bioelectricity complements hydroelectricity: sugarcane harvesting occurs during driest periods[1]
Bioelectricity provides more than 3% of Brazil’s electricity needs ~1,000 MW/year[1]
Enough energy to power the current demand of a country such
Sweden or Argentina.!
Source: Bioelectricity generation – Revista Galileu. Ed. Globo - http://revistagalileu.globo.com/Revista/Common/0,,EMI326727-18537,00.html
Harvested sugarcane goes through a crushing-mill where the cane juice is extracted
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The leftover is called bagasse, industrial waste that is transported to the boiler area where it is burned
Steam turns a turbine and a generator coupled converts mechanical energy into electrical energy
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sugarcane
sugar production
ethanol production
generator
turbine
cane juiceboiler
steam
Part of the energy is used in the plant itself and the surplus can be sold.
Burning bagasse generates energy to use and sell.
FROM THE LEFTOVER TO THE ELECTRICAL OUTLET
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Harvested sugarcane goes through a crushing-mill where the cane juice is extracted
1
The leftover is called bagasse, industrial waste that is transported to the boiler area where it is burned
Steam turns a turbine and a generator coupled converts mechanical energy into electrical energy
3
2
sugarcane
sugar production
ethanol production generator
turbine
cane juiceboiler
steam
Part of the energy is used in the plant itself and the surplus can be sold.
Burning bagasse generates energy to use and sell.
FROM THE LEFTOVER TO THE ELECTRICAL OUTLET
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Challenges, potential, futurewhat’s next?
Numbers, challenges and futurewhat’s next?
Sugarcane industry in numbers (2012/13 harvesting)[1]
Note: The data presented here (sugarcane production in 2012) - from the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association - UNICA – is 22% lower than the data from United Nations (presented in the slide 12 from United Nations.
Sugarcane
Challenges and issues
Crops are getting old: monoculture x fires to prepare soil for next harvesting. Decreasing tons/acre. How to solve it? [1]
“Low-tech” agriculture has led Brazil to the #1[3]
Improvements in efficiency = investment in technology innovation [1]
Clean source? Environmental controversy: sugarcane as a pollutant (fires) x ethanol and cane waste as efficient and clean sources
Social issue: migrant manpower (from N/NE to Central-South region) + low wages + bad labor conditions
Farmers are still recovering from 2008 financial crisis + seasonal changes in environmental conditions. Public policies? Funding? Federal subsides? [1]
How about future?
Climate change: scientists foresee geographical redistribution of the croplands[5]
Potential for crops expansion: from 8 to 38 million hectares, depending on irrigation techniques leading to 3bi ton/year[5]
Bioelectricity has potential to 14 GW/year (2020/21); In 2012, the installed capacity was 7.7GW, but only 1.1GW/year were connected to the grid[2]
Bioplastic: large-scale use [1]
Biochemicalsand biohydrocarbons: : next frontier, substitute for gasoline (?), diesel and jet fuel[4]
Cellulosic ethanol: fuel from leftover –potential to double the fuel produced/hectare
Green Protocol for sugarcane: 1st initiative in São Paulo[4]. For future, the whole country should be involved.