Dec 04, 2009
Brazil's Sugar/Ethanol Industries Act To Conserve Water
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Brazilian farmers and agribusinesses feel that abundant water resources will be a key component in Brazil's drive for ever-increasing production of food and fiber. With that in mind, sugar and ethanol producers in Brazil have been working very hard to improve the efficiency of their operations and especially to reduce the amount of water needed to produce their products. Over the last 30 years, the amount of water used in Brazilian sugar/ethanol mills has been reduced in some cases by up to 90%. During the 1970s, the average sugar/ethanol mill in the state of Sao Paulo used between 15 to 20 cubic meters of water for each ton of sugarcane processed. In 2005, that had fallen to an average of 2 cubic meters per ton of sugarcane with some of the more efficient mills using only one cubic meter of water per ton of sugarcane.
This week in Sao Paulo, the president of the Brazilian Sugarcane Producers Association released a manual titled "A Manual for The Conservation and Reuse of Water in the Sugar/Energy Industry." This manual is the result of a three-year effort between the sugarcane producers, the national water agency, and the industrial federation of Sao Paulo. The manual details how to use water resources more efficiently in sugar/ethanol mills, how to create sustainable development in the sugar/ethanol industry, and how to improve local water quality.
Conserving water resources has not been a top priority in Brazil because of its abundant water resources. Brazil contains 12% to 15% of the available surface water in the world (lakes and rivers) and that does not include groundwater resources. The sugar/ethanol industries took a proactive approach toward conserving water first because using less water saves money, and secondly to preempt criticism that biofuels production consumes land and water resources that could be better utilized to produce food.