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Scientists sound the alarm on harmful farming practice with devastating effects: 'Transformation at the grassroots level'

Reducing sugarcane waste and the frequency of industry sugarcane waste burns can improve the health of humans and the environment.

Reducing sugarcane waste and the frequency of industry sugarcane waste burns can improve the health of humans and the environment.

Photo Credit: iStock

South African agricultural economists and researchers Aluwani Maiwashe-Tagwi and Unity Chipfupa have discovered exciting news for both small-scale sugarcane farmers and the clean energy sector. As The Conversation shared, sugarcane trash can be used to create bioenergy.

According to their research, South Africa's sugarcane industry generates over $1 billion in national profit annually, with about 20,200 registered small-scale farmers producing 11% of the country's sugarcane (about 2.09 million tonnes).

According to the researchers, only 70-87% of the sugarcane is usable. The remaining leaves and tops are deemed trash, and over 90% of all the country's sugarcane trash inevitably gets burned.

Not only does sugarcane require a lot of water to grow, but its trash releases harmful gases when burned that contribute to a warming planet. Two gases in particular — sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide — create acid rain that can damage plants and trees and dissolve heavy metals that leach into soil and water.

Sugarcane burning also impacts air quality and the health of humans in the surrounding area. FoodPrint found that in Glades County — Florida's main sugarcane-producing region — the ashes that result from sugarcane burns, sometimes referred to as "black snow," cause a "35 percent uptick in respiratory-related hospital visits."

Reducing sugarcane waste and the frequency of sugarcane waste burns can improve the health of humans and the environment.

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Fortunately, the exciting research put forth by Maiwashe-Tagwi and Chipfupa provides a clever and prosperous solution to sugarcane trash.

Even at a 50% recovery efficiency from the 2.7 million tonnes of waste burned per year would produce 180.1 MW of clean electricity — enough to power over 100,000 homes in the country.

The researchers noted, per The Conversation, that converting sugarcane trash into bioenergy provides clean energy to rural parts of South Africa, helping to reduce energy insecurity in the country.

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Researchers from King's College London and the Brazilian Biorenewables National Laboratory have also developed a technology that turns food waste into a sustainable source of biofuel. Mash Makes, an Indo-Danish renewable energy company, is also making strides to produce sustainable biofuel from shipping industry waste.

With this exciting new clean energy opportunity, the South African researchers hope to see government subsidies for green harvesting equipment, as well as government policies that would incentivize small-scale farmers to stop burning waste and turn it into bioenergy materials. The researchers also propose an initiative for small-scale bioenergy producers to be able to sell excess energy back to the state-owned electricity provider.

Getting small-scale parties involved in an ambitious clean energy transition means "transformation at the grassroots level," Maiwashe-Tagwi and Chipfupa wrote, per The Conversation.

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