Brazil had 379 sugar mills in 2014, thus there is already a land dedicated to sugarcane. This is a real business that makes money without subsidies.
Ethanol plants produce CO2 as a byproduct of fermentation which is nearly pure and easy to purify to the point where it can be compressed to 1200 psi and not have nitrogen phase separate out and not have water vapor mix with the CO2 and make carbonic acid that eats pipe.
So it is a small add-on to existing plants. A larger and more complex add-on would capture CO2 from the bagasse furnace.
This could lead to more land-use changes if it improves the economics and if the ethanol industry can find more markets for fuel and electricity.
Most of the ethanol plants are located near Sao Paulo and Rio because that is where the fuel and electricity are in demand. None of them are in the Amazon basin and few in the area to the south of it that is in risk of "savannafication".
Ethanol plants produce CO2 as a byproduct of fermentation which is nearly pure and easy to purify to the point where it can be compressed to 1200 psi and not have nitrogen phase separate out and not have water vapor mix with the CO2 and make carbonic acid that eats pipe.
So it is a small add-on to existing plants. A larger and more complex add-on would capture CO2 from the bagasse furnace.
This could lead to more land-use changes if it improves the economics and if the ethanol industry can find more markets for fuel and electricity.
Most of the ethanol plants are located near Sao Paulo and Rio because that is where the fuel and electricity are in demand. None of them are in the Amazon basin and few in the area to the south of it that is in risk of "savannafication".