Sustainable Food and Energy Production. Sugarcane Biorefinery, the Eco-Friendly Appealing Option

For the first time in history, mankind is evidently unable to get rid of its own residues and also could certainly be victim of its own genius. As the times goes by, (as the song said), this situation is becoming more and more dramatic. If someone thinks it cannot be worst, just read the newspapers. The price of foods is above the once unthinkable figures, conventional fossil fuel ́s sources are going down to a certain exhaustion.


Short Communication
For the first time in history, mankind is evidently unable to get rid of its own residues and also could certainly be victim of its own genius. As the times goes by, (as the song said), this situation is becoming more and more dramatic. If someone thinks it cannot be worst, just read the newspapers. The price of foods is above the once unthinkable figures, conventional fossil fuel´s sources are going down to a certain exhaustion.
At the same time, in recent years, biomasses are becoming increasingly appealing alternatives, to give an integrated solution to the hunger, the lack of energy and in an eco-friendly way [1].
At this point, sugarcane represents what someone calls "the marvelous crop", because it not only gives 20 times the energy used to cultivate it but has the capacity to sequester 19 tons of GHG/ha per year, being also able to renew 100% in 12 months.
British writer, Henry Hobhouse, author of the best-seller "Seed of Change", has described sugar cane as one of the six plant species which have transformed humanity, among the others are tea, cotton and potato. You may not agree with some of the various points raised by him in his book, but we must recognize that sugar cane in much more than a sweet stalk.
The alternative to be selected will always depend on various factors: the production strategy of the industrial complex, the opportunities of the market, the environmental conditions, the scale economy of the specific installations, the most convenient thermodynamically scheme, among others.
So, the decision making about the use of bagasse will be an adequate combination of wisdom, opportunity, local policies and, most of all, the compromise with the survival of the human race... Sugarcane, this exceptional crop, is a certain, reliable and divers source of animal feeds, an important component of the food security, because it´s an indisputable fact that meat, milk, fats and their derivatives and co products, are the key elements in a sufficient and healthy human nutrition.
That´s the reason why is so important to ensure a solid and sustainable animal production within the tropical zone, almost without exception undeveloped, based on feed sources in full correspondence of the environmental characteristic of the area [5].
When asking "Why Sugarcane in the tropical areas?" the answer is simple: because it gives the higher yields of organic matter per hectare, than any other commercial crop, for fodder energy and protein, under the same fertilizing and irrigation conditions, giving the greatest amount of direct carbohydrates easily assimilable per unit of area, at lower production costs, able to be established with lower investments, long last reproduction without the need of replanting, with high resistance to pests and diseases , better ability to resist successfully to long droughts than other plants [6].
In addition , it´s is possible to state that sugarcane offers very wide and economically appealing alternatives of products, that could favor the highly needed industrial development of the tropical countries, meaning more job opportunities, inducing an improve of their global economic balance.