State-Level Inventories and Life Cycle GHG Emissions of Corn, Soybean, and Sugarcane Produced in Brazil

Brazil is a leading producer of multi-purpose crops—such as corn, soybean, and sugarcane—used for human consumption, animal feed, and biofuel production. This study generated agricultural inventories for these three crops based on state-level information. For sugarcane, we used primary data submitted by ethanol producers to RenovaBio. For soybean and corn, we retrieved and updated data from a previous study, which gathered information through panel consultations with farmers and sector experts. We also calculated the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the crops using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. Our analysis revealed significant variability in emissions across states, especially for corn and sugarcane. Without considering direct land use change (dLUC), the states with the highest and lowest emissions for each crop were as follows: (i) sugarcane: Paraíba at 54 and Goiás at 37, with a national average of 42 kg CO2e/t cane; (ii) soybean: Maranhão at 344 and Minas Gerais at 300, average of 323 kg CO2e/t soy; (iii) first-crop corn: Maranhão at 416 and Mato Grosso at 264, average of 300 kg CO2e/t corn; (iv) second-crop corn: Paraná at 306 and Minas Gerais at 153, average of 255 kg CO2e/t corn. Emissions were inversely related to crop yields, with the exception of second-crop corn. In general, lower yields were observed in states of the Northeast region (e.g., Maranhão and Paraíba), which face challenges due to irregular climate patterns and water deficits. For sugarcane cultivated in the same region, emissions from straw burning had a significant impact, with the practice being applied to more than 60% of the crop area. If dLUC emissions were included, variability would increase dramatically—particularly for corn and soybean in some states—due to patterns of cropland expansion into native vegetation areas over the 2000–2019 period. In particular, total soybean emissions would range from 471 in Paraná to 2173 in Maranhão, with a national average of 1022 kg CO2e/t soy. These findings can be valuable as references for life cycle databases, for the development of state-specific emission factors for biofuels produced from the investigated crops, and as supporting information for decarbonization programs.