Quantification of Carbon, Water, and Energy Footprints Associated with Refined Cane Sugar Production in Mexico Through Life Cycle Assessment

Integrated life cycle assessments combining carbon, water, and energy footprints are uncommon for cane sugar production in Mexico, particularly in high-productivity regions where aging infrastructure substantially affects environmental performance. This study quantified these three impact categories for refined cane sugar production in a high-intensity region of southeastern Mexico, applying a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) under ISO 14040 and 14044, using SimaPro software and primary field data. The functional unit (FU) was defined as 100 g of refined cane sugar. Results per FU were 41.7 g CO2-eq, 267.59 L of freshwater consumed, and 2.82 MJ. Pre-harvest burning dominated the carbon footprint (43.5%), followed by juice clarification (14.9%) and synthetic fertilization (9.2%). The agricultural phase accounted for 98.25% of the water footprint, almost entirely attributable to the freshwater withdrawn for surface irrigation. Bagasse-fueled boiler operations constituted the main energy demand (73.3%), with substantial thermal losses associated with process inefficiencies. A sensitivity analysis showed that replacing bagasse with fossil fuels would increase industrial carbon emissions by approximately 7- to 28-fold, confirming the environmental relevance of integrated bioenergy use. Pre-harvest burning, irrigation inefficiency, and cogeneration underperformance were identified as the principal environmental hotspots at the studied mill, providing a site-specific primary-data basis for improvement strategies that may serve as a reference for comparable systems.