F ROM T HE EDI T OR
The Sugar Economy S ugar cane p lays a n important ro le i n today’s world e conomy: not only i s i t the pr im a ry so u rce of su g a r f or hum an consu mption, it a lso is a m aj or player in the p roductio n of fu e l. Fir st- gener ation b iofu e l made fro m s ugar cane juice a n d mo lasses has b e en ar ound for a very long time, bu t s econd- gene ration b iofu e ls pro d u c e d f rom cellul osic bio mass (like bagas s e ) a re show i ng p romising p o tential. As we consid e r the e n vironme n tal i m pact of gas o lin e fu e l a lte rnative s , i t is i m por tant to calcula te a ccu rate ly a ll factor s i nvolved, so th a t we c an be better p repare d to scale up p roducti on of A d vance d Fu e ls as th e y a re i denti fied. A n A d vance d Fu e l i s one consi dere d to be capable of c ur bi ng gr ee nhouse gas emissio n s b y a t l east 50% a s comp a red to g a sol in e . The EPA considere d th a t sugarcane e thanol bel onged in the a d vance d b iofuel catego ry; with a re d u ction in t he em i ssi on of gre e n h o u se g a ses t h a t e xceeds the minimum re q u ire ments . Accor di ng to th is in stitu tio n , B razil ia n e thanol r esulte d in up to 6 1 % less g reenhouse gas emissio n s (ra ther t h a n 2 6 % l ess as e sta b lished b y p revious c alcul ati ons) as co mpare d to gaso lin e , b y using a 30-year offset period for e mi ssi ons r e la ted to indirect land u s e e ffects ( Indire ct Land Use Ch a n g e s — ILU C) . In the ca se o f corn eth a n o l, t h e g reenhouse gas re d u ction is close t o 2 0 % as com p a red to g a soline. S tar ting w i th th is issu e of “Got Ru m? ”, w e’ l l begi n exp loring the sugarcane
in d u s t ry, s t a rt in g wit h t h e wo rld ma rk e t , a n d t h e n t a k in g a d e e p d iv e in t o in d iv id u a l s u g a rc a n e p ro d u c in g c o u n t rie s . T h e f u t u re o f s u g a rc a n e c u lt iv a t io n w i l l a ff e c t u s a ll, n o t o n ly f ro m a re f in e d s u g a r c o n s u mp t io n , o r f ro m a ru m/ rh u m p ro d u c t io n p e rs p e c t iv e , b u t a s a p ra c t ic a l a n d e ff ic ie n t wa y t o re d u c e g re e n h o u s e g a s e mis s io n s . To t h e s we e t g ra s s !
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G o t R u m ? Ma y 2 0 2 3 - 5