The Other Side of Ethanol Production:
A Burning Question For Brazil's Sugar
online.wsj.com
"Should Farmers Still Use Fire to Help in Harvest, Or Bring in Machines?
By KENNETH RAPOZA
September 24, 2007; Page C3
"SÃO PAULO, Brazil -- Each September, thousands of acres of Brazilian sugarcane go up in smoke, a ritual that accentuates an economic, social and environmental conflict.
Farmers burn the crop to facilitate harvesting by machete. The government wants to end the practice, long considered a health hazard and one of Brazil's top greenhouse-gas contributors. If the practice is banned, mechanical harvesters will take over, taking thousands of poor workers out of the field and likely leading to a social conflict that city councilors and labor unions would rather avoid.
Burning the cane eliminates the razor-sharp leaves from the cane stalks, making it easier to cut by hand. Yet, cane-burning practices pump a layer of black ash into the air, creating an eye-burning pollution. Machines don't require burning.
Driving along the Bandeirantes highway in São Paulo, one notices large orange flames visible just a quarter-mile from the road. Billows of black smoke rise from the flames, making it look as though a large bomb has just been dropped on the horizon." |
