Environmental impacts of mechanization in Brazil's sugar and ethanol industry: The cutting, loading, and transportation process case

摘要

This work aims to analyze environmental impacts caused by mechanization in the sugar and ethanol sector in Brazil. To achieve this goal, a case study was performed in a production unit of the country's largest producer. It was found that mechanization of cutting, loading, and transportation processes for sugarcane brings immediate benefits in terms of productivity and the elimination of activities, which are potentially dangerous to workers (manual cutting). More importantly, although the mechanization elevates diesel consumption, it eliminates burning crops of sugarcane, which overall significantly reduces the emission of greenhouse gases. (c) 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 34: 1748-1755, 2015