Evaluating environmental issues related to the Sucroenergetic Sector in the Triângulo Mineiro/Alto Paranaíba Mesoregion (MG)

Abstract

This study examined the main environmental issues related to the sugar-energy sector in the Mesoregion Triângulo Mineiro/Alto Paranaíba (MG), responsible for 70% of sugarcane production in Minas Gerais and which experienced a 929.7% increase in cultivated area in just over two decades. The focus of the analysis was the intensive use of water resources, the generation of large amounts of tailings and its inadequate disposal. The methodological procedures included extensive data collection and analysis, fieldworks and consulting interdisciplinary references. As main findings it was estimated that 47.55 billion liters of water were needed for industrial processing of the 57.99 million tons of sugarcane harvested in the mesoregion - amount greater than the entire water volume consumed by the population (724 thousand inhabitants) residing in the municipalities where these sugar-energy plants are installed. In Pirajuba, the sugar-energy plant consumed 9.5 times more water than the municipal population. Also it was discovered that five of the seventeen municipalities that most cultivate irrigated sugarcane in the center-south of the country are in the mesoregion. Furthermore, that sugar-energetic processing promotes a high (co)generation and disposal of vinasse, a by-product with a high polluting potential and conceived in a ratio of 10 to 13 times for each liter of ethanol. Field work revealed that the inadequate accumulation of this waste is directly related to the proliferation of pests, such as the stable fly.