Spatiotemporal Trends of the Carbon Footprint of Sugar Production in China

Sugar is the main nutrient source of human beings and the basic raw material of the food industry. It is of great practical significance for China to find out the current situation and future trend of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from sugar production, and explore measures for reducing GHG emissions from sugar planting and processing. The IPCC GHG emissions accounting method is applied to analyze the carbon footprint of sugar production based on planting management and industrial development data, in which the GHG emissions per unit of sugar product are calculated and analyzed. According to Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality targets, the total GHG emissions of China's sugar industry in 2030 and 2060 are predicted and discussed. The results show that: (1) The average GHG emissions per unit yield of sugar show a downward trend from 2004 to 2021. The total GHG emissions of sugar production in China have reached 1319.9 × 104 t CO2eq in 2021, which has not yet reached its peak due to the growth of consumption demand. (2) The average GHG emissions per unit of Beet Sugar (1.477 tCO2eq/t) is higher than that of Cane Sugar (0.825 tCO2eq/t). It is more meaningful to enlarge the planting area of sugarcane than that of sugarbeet in the future. (3) Overall, in 2021 the GHG emissions of sugar production reached 0.91 tCO2eq/t in China, which would decline 15 %–87 % until 2030 and 2060. There is great potential for sugar production to reduce GHG emissions in the future.