Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
taBle 21.1
cane Production of the 20 World largest sugarcane Producers in 1987 and 2007
cane
Production (mt)
rank in
2007
a
variation
1987-2007 (%)
harvested area
(1000 ha)
average
yield (t/ha)
country
1987
2007
1 (1)
Brazil
268.5
514.1
91
6712
76.6
2 (2)
India
186.1
355.5
91
4900
72.6
3 (4)
China
52.8
106.3
101
1236
86.1
4 (11)
Thailand
24.4
64.4
163
1010
63.7
5 (6)
Pakistan
43.6
54.8
26
1029
53.2
6 (5)
Mexico
45.9
50.7
10
680
74.5
7 (9)
Colombia
25.0
40.0
60
450
88.9
8 (10)
Australia
24.8
36.0
45
420
85.7
9 (7)
United States
26.5
27.8
5
358
77.6
10 (13)
Philippines
17.2
25.3
47
400
63.3
11 (8)
Indonesia
26.1
25.2
-4
350
72.0
12 (12)
South Africa
21.0
20.5
-2
420
48.8
13 (14)
Argentina
14.5
19.2
33
290
66.2
14 (19)
Guatemala
6.9
18.8
174
225
83.6
15 (16)
Egypt
8.4
16.2
92
136
119.6
16 (23)
Viet Nam
5.5
16.0
193
285
56.1
17 (3)
Cuba
70.8
11.1
-84
400
27.8
18 (17)
Venezuela
8.0
9.3
16
125
74.4
19 (20)
Peru
6.8
8.2
21
68
121.7
20 (24)
Sudan
4.8
7.5
58
72
104.2
Sum/average
887.6
1426.8
61
19,564
72.9
World
990.3
1557.7
57
21,977
70.9
Source:
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 2009. FAO Statitics Division, avail-
able at http://faostat.fao.org/ (accessed February 10, 2009).
a
In parenthesis is rank in 1987. Harvested area and yield data refer to 2007.
sugar. Sugarcane partitions carbon into sucrose that accumulates in the internodes to up to 50%
of its dry weight (0.7 M) (Moore 1995). Such high capacity of accumulation in stalks is unique
among plants. Most of the ethanol produced in the world derives from plant juices containing
sucrose from sugarcane in Brazil and starch from corn in the United States (EIA 2008; UNICA
2009). The United States and Brazil are the top producers of ethanol in the world. The production
of bioethanol from sugarcane syrup is well established and nowadays is good enough to provide
a product that follows market specification for fuels. The whole process may be considered very
robust and does not compete with the food chain because in most of the industrial units the bio-
ethanol is produced with depleted syrup because of simultaneous sugar production. However, in
Brazil, where more than 50% of the sugarcane is directed to ethanol production, the whole syrup
may be fermented. In addition, there are industrial plants devoted just to ethanol. A close look
at the whole production structure allows identification of possible scenarios in which part of the
sugarcane bagasse may also be used for bioethanol production when the cellulosic route is suf-
ficiently developed.
