In recent years, there have been great efforts aimed at using co-products and agricultural residues as a source of raw material for industry or electricity generation. One of the objectives is to add value to agro-industrial chains, valuing inputs that previously had no market value. Agricultural waste is biomass from agricultural processes, but this sector has difficulties in reconciling food production and structuring its offer for industrial use.
According to Embrapa, the generation of agricultural residues in cultivation and harvesting activities is extremely variable, depending a lot on the crop and the production system to be considered. This means structuring logistics capable of storing, controlling and moving products during all stages of the agricultural production cycle, considering the high seasonal variation. It should be considered that, on the other hand, the demands for raw materials for industrial use and for products for the consumer market show a more continuous behavior throughout the year.
As an example of the feasibility of using biomass, the soy chain has an already consolidated final market for its entire agricultural crop. That is, the entire soy complex, with grains, bran and oil, has a demand in the domestic and/or foreign market. Therefore, it cannot be considered that there is a significant residue that is not used in soybean production.
Could it be that we are not capable of replicating this use for other crops and their respective residues?
Sugarcane already has mature technology for different products, such as sugar, biofuel (in this case, first-generation ethanol), fertilizers, using vinasse, and electricity, through cogeneration by burning bagasse. However, this chain has a great potential that has not yet been explored, mainly through the sugars contained in sugarcane bagasse and straw. The diagram below illustrates some of these potentials.
Figure 1 – Potential for using sugarcane
Source: ILOS
Sugarcane straw was usually burned to facilitate manual harvesting. However, this practice is about to be extinguished, due to the regulation provided for in Law 11.241, which prohibits it. Thus, this residue is now considered an input for other purposes, such as fertilizer in crops, energy use or as raw material in industry.
In order to assess the real availability of sugarcane residues, taking into account techniques for harvesting and transporting this straw, a study by the BNDES considers the premise of generating 167 kg of straw and 270 kg of bagasse for each ton of sugarcane. harvested sugar. This means that in the last sugarcane harvest, 2014/2015, more than 300 million tons of this agricultural waste were produced. That is, millions of tons produced annually still without value for the market, hiding a great source of wealth.
Figure 2 – Volume of straw and bagasse generated in the last sugarcane harvest
Source: IBGE and BNDES
Crawling on this subject, in the midst of a timid recovery of the sugar-energy sector, rural sugarcane producers now want to receive remuneration from the mills for generating electricity obtained through the burning of sugarcane bagasse. The objective is to discuss the feasibility of including this remuneration in the payment to producers and, also, to know how much this wealth is worth, which was previously seen only as a residue.
In an interview with Folha Online, Celso Torquato Junqueira Franco, president of the UDOP (Union of Bioenergy Producers), stated that the producers' demand is fair, as electricity was a non-existent product in the past in the production chain. “Our potential for generating energy from sugarcane straw bagasse is currently equivalent to 18% of the energy in the country. It is very close to the volume that thermoelectric plants have generated in the last two years without interruption, but at a very high environmental and economic cost, ”he said.
The energy availability of sugarcane is evident when comparing the energy content of its ton, 1.718.000 kcal, with the energy potential of a barrel of oil, which is 1.386.000 kcal. In other words, one ton of sugarcane is energetically equivalent to 1,24 barrels of crude oil. If the payment is approved, the energy generated is included in the calculations of Consecana (Council of Sugarcane Producers of São Paulo), the body responsible for assessing the prices to be paid for sugarcane, taking into account costs and revenues generated by ethanol and sugar.
The case of rural sugarcane producers is just the tip of an immense iceberg. How much waste is scattered, both in rural and urban areas, still without any value? What will be the viability of using this material with the new technologies that are being developed? What is the value of your garbage, your waste? What is the importance of the Supply Chain in this context of value generation? These and other questions are still open, but perhaps not for long. But that's a topic for another post.
References
<http://www.bndes.gov.br/SiteBNDES/export/sites/default/bndes_pt/Galerias/Arquivo>
<http://www.infoteca.cnptia.embrapa.br/bitstream/doc/952626/1/DOC13.pdf>
<http://governo-sp.jusbrasil.com.br/legislacao/129474/lei-11241-02>
<http://www.novacana.com/etanol/logistica-infraestrutura-transporte/>
<http://www.novacana.com/n/cana/variedades/encontrar-melhor-cana-acucar-granbio-inverso-090513/>
