Biofuels could have big impact on water resources

InvestigateWest

It’s totally possible that the move to increased biofuel production (e.g. ethanol and biodiesel) could tax already maxed out irrigation and water resources.

That’s according to a relatively unheralded report released by the Government Accountability Office Monday. GAO, Congress’s investigative and auditing agency, prepares reports in response to requests from members of the U.S. House and Senate.

The report “Many Uncertainties Remain about National and Regional Effects of Increased Biofuel Production on Water Resources”, says that existing biofuel production methods uses a lot of water and that corn, the raw material of much of the biofuel business, is produced in the U.S. as an irrigation-dependent, water-intensive crop.

Read more here from Daniel Lathrop at InvestigateWest.

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Not all biofuels are created equal
The term ‘biofuels’ refers to a wide-range of fuels made from almost any form of recently living organic matter, as opposed to fossil fuels made of organic matter from millions of years ago. Biofuels can be categorised by type, such as bioethanol, biodiesel and biogas; and by source, such as sugarcane, maize, wheat, rapeseed, agricultural waste products and algae. Sustainability is the key word for biofuels. In fact, some biofuels have a worse environmental performance than the fossil fuels that they are meant to replace. An example is corn-based ethanol. Relative to fossil fuels, sustainably produced biofuels result in a reduction in carbon emissions across their lifecycle. Sources being used are non-food crops grown on non-agricultural land and waste products resulting from food production. Other sources being explored include algae. "Sustainable biodiesel is biodiesel that is produced in a manner that, on a life-cycle basis, minimizes the generation of pollution, including greenhouse gases; reduces competition for, and use of, natural resources and energy; reduces waste generation; preserves habitat and ecosystems; maintains or improves soils; avoids use of genetically modified organisms; and provides community economic benefit that results in jobs and fair labor conditions.” So let's not "throw the baby out with the bathwater" and distinguish between sustainable and non-sustainable biofuels. These will be important to us during the transition to fully renewable sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal energy.
Comment by nwcitizen 9 months ago	( 0 votes) ( report abuse ) ( reply )

biofuels and water
Cellulosic ethanol does not yet exist in a commercially viable form. Sugar cane ethanol has an import tax. We are talking here about corn ethanol meeting the government mandates and that is a big, big problem. All that corn is causing Dead Zones in places like the Gulf of Mexico and the Chesapeake Bay. President Obama recent Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration Executive Order is not going to be aided by all that corn runoff heading right to the Chesapeake Bay.
Comment by For Obama Against Ethanol 9 months ago	( 0 votes) ( report abuse ) ( reply )