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Challenges and Prospects for Sugarcane Biorefineries in Mitigating Climate Change

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Handbook of Climate Change Management

Abstract

Commercial crop management practices for sugarcane, corn, soybeans and other commodities have been exclusively aimed at increasing productivity and profitability, due to the growing demand for raw materials for food, fodder and biofuels, mainly ethanol and biodiesel produced in biorefineries. This production strategy has resulted in a decrease in soil organic matter, as well as the content and availability of soil nutrients and microbiota. It has also reduced the soil’s ecological function due to excessive deforestation resulting from logging and the traditional slash-and-burn system followed by tillage, carried out for the extensive establishment of cash crops entailing the unsustainable use of agrochemicals and the burning of agricultural residues. Similarly, conventional agriculture, like other anthropogenic actions, generates greenhouse gas emissions, mainly by emitting carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane, which cause climate change and this phenomenon, in turn, has gradually affected the efficiency and success of managing conventional farming systems and their sustainability. Therefore, this chapter provides a systematic review of academic research on the direct effect of extensive agricultural practices on climate change used in cultivating sugarcane, the main raw material of biorefineries. In addition, the chapter discusses how specific actions with current technologies and sustainable management strategies appropriate for this crop, available for use in biorefineries, can be useful in mitigating the effects of climate change in the short term in Latin America

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Veracruzana, Córdoba, Veracruz, Mexico

    Noé Aguilar-Rivera

  2. Unidad Académica Multidisciplinaria Zona Media, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Rioverde, Mexico

    Christian Michel-Cuello

Authors
  1. Noé Aguilar-Rivera
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  2. Christian Michel-Cuello
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Correspondence to Noé Aguilar-Rivera .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. FTZ-ALS, HAW Hamburg, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. School of Social Sciences, CHC Higher Education, Carindale, Australia

    Johannes Luetz

  3. Center for Food Security Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Desalegn Ayal

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Aguilar-Rivera, N., Michel-Cuello, C. (2021). Challenges and Prospects for Sugarcane Biorefineries in Mitigating Climate Change. In: Leal Filho, W., Luetz, J., Ayal, D. (eds) Handbook of Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22759-3_245-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22759-3_245-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-22759-3

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