SUSTAINABILITY IN SUGARCANE PROCESSING IN BRAZIL

By JAIME FINGUERUT
CTC- Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira Cx. Postal 162 Piracicaba SP Brazil 13400-970
jaime@ctc.com.br

Abstract 

SUSTAINABILITY involves the three ‘Ps’: People, Planet and Profit.
Brazilian sugarcane is a sustainable industry that has made significant gains in its
sustainability over the past 30 years.
A typical mill today can process twice as much sugarcane with the same equipment
and with approximately the same energy, maintenance, labour, water, etc., so that twice as
much product can be produced.
All residues are recycled back to sugarcane fields.
The use of energy and chemicals in processing is also considerably reduced.
The use of sugarcane bagasse, other carbohydrates from sugarcane, production of
bioplastics and second and third generation biofuels represent new avenues for increased
sustainability.
The entire Brazilian sugarcane production chain has to be very well prepared for a
more intense scrutiny of sustainability.


KEYWORDS: Sustainability, Biofuels,
Bioplastics, Residues, Productivity.

www.issct.org

 Plenary - Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol. 27, 2010
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