Growing concerns about the impacts of climate change and dependence on fossil fuels have intensified interest in bioenergy from sugar cane and other crops, highlighting important linkages between energy, environment and development goals. Southern and Eastern Africa are characterised by severe poverty; the possibility to exploit a renewable energy resource offers valuable avenues for sustainable development and could support a more dynamic and competitive economy.
This book describes how the bioenergy expansion will improve rural livelihoods, reduce costly energy imports, reduce GHG emissions, and offer new development paths. Drawing on international experience, particularly from Brazil and India, it is shown that harnessing this potential will require significant increases in investment, technology transfer, and international cooperation.
Because of its high efficiency, the authors argue that sugar cane should be viewed as a global resource for sustainable development and should command much greater focus and concerted policy action. Through an analysis of the agronomy and processing of sugar cane, economics and environmental impact, the chapters demonstrate that it offers a competitive and environmentally beneficial resource that can help to facilitate food and energy security within continuing economic development.
1. Introduction; PART I: AGRICULTURE; 2. Plant Physiology, Breeding and Biotechnology; 3. Land Suitability, Crop Handling and Resource Requirements; 4. Agroecological Zoning for Biofuels; PART II: INDUSTRY; 5. Cane Processing and Energy Generation from Fibre Resources; 6. Ethanol Production from Cane Resources; 7. Other Co-product Options; PART III: MARKETS; 8. Sugar Reforms, Ethanol Demand and Market Restructuring; 9. Markets and International Experience; 10. Economics, Policies and Institutions; PART IV: IMPACTS AND SUSTAINABILITY; 11. Socioeconomic and Environmental Impacts and Contributions to Sustainable Development; 12. Best Management Practices and Sustainability Certification; 13. Sugarcane and Climate Change Mitigation: A Case Study for South Africa; PART V: STRATEGIC ISSUES; 14. The Development of Biofuel Capacities - Strengthining the Position of African Countries through Increased Energy Security; 15. Financing and Investment; 16. Managing Technology Change in the Biofuels Space: Opportunities for Africa; PART VI: COMPARATIVE ANALYSES; 17. The Emerging Role of Sugarcane Energy in Least Developed Countries: The Case of Nepal; 18. Comparisons with Other Biofuel Crops; 19. Conclusions
Francis X. Johnson is Senior Research Fellow in Energy and Climate at the Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden. He was scientific coordinator of an EC-funded thematic research network on sugarcane in southern Africa and has served as evaluator, advisor or policy analyst for FAO, UNIDO, EUROSTAT, European Parliament Environment Committee and other international organisations. Vikram Seebaluck is lecturer and researcher at the University of Mauritius in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. His research areas include process systems analysis and energy efficiency in the sugarcane industry, bioenergy systems and co-products analysis, and energy for sustainable development.