Sugarcane Biomass Production in South Florida: A Comparative Emergy Assessment of Organic Soil and Mineral Soil Production Systems

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.5890/JEAM.2014.12.002· OSTI ID:1337022

Amponsah, N. Y. ^[1]; Hanlon, E. A. ^[2]; Izursa, J. L. ^[3]; Capece, J. C. ^[3]

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1. Intelligentsia International Inc., LaBelle, FL (United States); Hendry County, Florida; Intelligentsia International
2. Univ. of Florida Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, FL (United States). Dept. of Soil and Water Sciences
3. Intelligentsia International Inc., LaBelle, FL (United States)

An Emergy Assessment (EMA) of sugarcane cultivation as feedstock for bioethanol production in South Florida was performed to develop a sustainability profile of the farming systems. In this study, a sugarcane farming system on muck soil (organic soil) was compared with a similar crop- ping system on a sandy soil (mineral soil). Our study provides a comparison of these alternative systems from the perspective of their resource use, environmental impact and sustainability. The representative farm for both systems was based on a 5000 acres farm assumed to be already established in South Florida. Emergy analysis was applied to evaluate environmental support required for the sugarcane production in both systems. In line with the methodology a quantitative inventory of free natural resources and purchased input flows into the systems was created. These results showed that aside ground water irrigation which dominates (44%) in both systems, the largest emergy flows for biofuel production on organic soil were associated with soil erosion or subsidence (19%), labor (12%), evapotranspiration (11%), and fuel (8%). However, for sandy soil production, the main contributors were lime (13%), labor (12%), and fuel (8%). Furthermore, the emergy analysis suggests that due to the non-renewability of soil loss in the organic soil farming system, a reduction in the purchased inputs for sandy (mineral) soils based on alternative farming measures potentially makes mineral soil sugarcane ethanol production a rather more sustainable and attractive alternative for a better environmental performance.

• Research Organization: Intelligentsia International Inc., LaBelle, FL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (EE-3B)
• DOE Contract Number: EE0000303
• OSTI ID: 1337022
• Report Number(s): DOE-HENDRYFLA--00303-101
• Journal Information: Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management, Journal Name: Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 2; ISSN 2325-6192
• Publisher: L & H Scientific Publishing
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
Bioethanol
Biomass
Emergy
Florida
Soil subsidence
Sugarcane