ABSTRACT
Sugarcane as a renewable resource for sustainable futures Francis X. Johnson, Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden; Manoel Regis Lima Verde Leal, University of Campinas, Brazil; and Anne Nyambane, Stockholm Environment Institute, Africa Centre, Kenya
1 Introduction
2 Sugarcane resources and co-products
3 Sustainability for sugarcane-based biomass, bioenergy and biofuels
4 Agricultural operations and land use
5 Lifecycle performance and assessment
6 A brief case study in Brazil
7 Conclusion
8 References
The high photosynthetic efficiency of sugarcane and its long history in industrial agriculture have raised it to prominence as the world’s most important energy crop (Bassam, 2010). Sugarcane is a renewable agricultural resource and also provides the industrial foundations for one of the world’s greatest agro-industries. Its concentration in tropical and subtropical regions has also imbued it with a special role as a major driver for economic development. For all of these reasons, sugarcane plays a rather special role in the global transition to sustainability. Because sugarcane has been cultivated and processed commercially for hundreds of years, its emergence as an energy crop can still be seen as recent when viewed in the context of its long history.
