Analysis of sugarcane production and transportation in Hoya del Río Suárez from a life cycle perspective

This paper investigates the environmental impact of agricultural systems used to convert sugarcane into non-centrifugal cane sugar (NCS) in the region of the Hoya del Río Suárez (HRS) at an average sugarcane mill in the region through a life cycle analysis (LCA). Based on an operational approach from crop to production, LCA considers the scenarios of different transportation methods (traditional beasts of burden and the newfangled gravity aerial ropeway based as well as self-propelled areal ropeway systems). This paper, to be best of our knowledge, is one of the first that deals to analyze LCA in the transportation systems of process of NCS production. Primarily, the LCA approach identifies the impact of each NCS production process using the Umberto NTX Software, and the environmental footprint 2.0 Midpoint as well as ReCiPe Endpoint Impact Assessment Methods, which help sugarcane producers understand the area being significantly affected. For example, it determines whether the human health, ecosystem, or natural resources are affected by comparing the possible sugarcane transportation systems used for panela production. The LCA conducted on NCS industry in HRS revealed that electric motors significantly affect human health in long term. This is associated with elements, such as selenium, barium, and manganese, which can remain in the environment over time due to the high demand of energy they consume. This study also demonstrates that the transportation system exhibits similar environmental burdens (the traditional beasts of burden: 54.56 points; the self-propelled aerial cableway system: 54.77 points; and the gravity-based aerial cableway system: 54.61 points), which indicates that sugarcane mill' technology and logistics must be improved. The identification of production points where the environmental burdens are more significant accelerated the discussions toward the best practices in the sugarcane and NCS industry, thus providing producers with process guidance toward prospective development lines within the industry.