from the article:
<Sugar cane crops occupy just 1% of Brazil’s arable land, which is moreover far away from the Amazon forest.>
The Amazon is in the north of Brazil, while the sugarcane is grown in the south and east. See the map on page 5: gronabilister.se
Sugarcane ethanol is, ecologically, much better than corn ethanol. And, when they figure out how to use cellulose as a feedstock, it gets even better. Today, they burn the leaves off, before harvesting the sugar-containing stalks. If those leaves are used for cellulose ethanol, the mass burning will stop. It's possible (with good regulation, and more importantly, consistent enforcement of the regulations) to create a cellulose ethanol industry on a very large scale, and do it sustainably. That's not at all a certain outcome, but I think it's possible. With corn ethanol, it isn't.
Another place where lots of sugarcane could be grown, is the southern edge of the Sahara. If done correctly, it could halt desertification, and create jobs for many small farmers. But it would require functional governments, lots of investment in infrastructure (roads, water management, mass tree planting), and other things that are in short supply in that area. The limiting factors are entirely human, not natural. |
