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Facts At A Glance
ETHANOL AND WATER DO NOT MIX
"RFA's amusing alliterative assertions and emboldened PR tactics against oil companies simply cannot make these studies and the legitimate concerns that have been raised about ethanol go away. The problems are real and documented, and the American public is coming to understand that a significant increase in the federal biofuels mandate would ultimately fail consumers, our environment, our economy and our national energy security."
Charles T. Drevna
Executive Vice President, National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA)
October 22, 2007
What They're Saying About Ethanol's Impact on Water Supply…
National Academy of Sciences:
- "Water is an increasingly precious resource used for many critical purposes; in some areas of the country, water resources are already significantly stressed. For example, large portions of the Ogallala (or High Plains) aquifer, which extends from west Texas up into South Dakota and Wyoming, show water table declines of over 100 feet since about the 1940s. Increased biofuels production will likely add pressure to the water management challenges the nation already faces as biofuels drive changing agricultural practices, increased corn production, and growth in the number of biorefineries." (National Academy of Sciences, "Report in Brief: Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States," October 2007, p. 2 [emphasis added])
- "All biofuel facilities require water to convert biological materials into fuel. The amount of water used in the biorefining process is modest compared to the water used for growing the plants used to produce ethanol; however, because water use in biorefineries is concentrated into a smaller area, such facilities effects can be substantial locally. A biorefinery that produces 100 million gallons of ethanol per year, for example, would use the equivalent of the water supply for a town of about 5,000 people." (National Academy of Sciences, "Report in Brief: Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States," October 2007, p. 2 [emphasis added])
- "Another important consideration is how biofuel production might drive the expansion of agriculture into regions that currently support little agriculture. Expansion of agricultural lands, especially into dry western areas, has the potential to dramatically affect water availability." (National Academy of Sciences, "Report in Brief: Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States," October 2007, p. 2 [emphasis added])
- "Depending on what crops are grown, where the crops are grown, and whether there is an increase in overall agricultural production, significant acceleration of biofuels production could cause much greater water quantity problems than are currently experienced." (National Academy of Sciences, "Report in Brief: Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States," October 2007, p. 2 [emphasis added])
Environmental Defense:
- "Increases in irrigation water consumption for feedstock production are likely to be even larger than direct demands from ethanol processing. Many ethanol plants are being sited in the Ogallala region because of proximity to dairy and feedlot operations that provide a ready market for ethanol by-products, not because of large local corn supplies. However, articles in the popular press suggest that feedstock for the ethanol plants will be grown both locally and out of state (Southwest Farm Press 2005, Associated Press 2007, 9News.com 2007)." (Martha G. Roberts, Timothy D. Male, Theodore P. Toombs, "Potential Impacts of Biofuels Expansion on Natural Resources: A Case Study of the Ogallala Aquifer Region," Environmental Defense, October 2007, p. 3-4)
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page:
- "If the Senate's new 'renewable fuels' mandate becomes law, get ready for a giant slurping sound as Midwest water supplies are siphoned off to slake Big Ethanol. House and Senate negotiators are preparing for an energy-bill conference, and if the Senate's language prevails, America's economy will be forced to consume more than five times current ethanol production. Heavily subsidized and absurdly inefficient, corn-based ethanol has already driven up food prices. But the Senate's plan to increase production to 36 billion gallons by 2022, from less than seven billion today, will place even greater pressure on farm-belt aquifers." (Editorial, "Ethanol's Water Shortage," The Wall Street Journal, October 17, 2007 [emphasis added])
- "Ethanol plants consume roughly four gallons of water to produce each gallon of fuel, but that's only a fraction of ethanol's total water habit. Cornell ecology professor David Pimentel says that when you count the water needed to grow the corn, one gallon of ethanol requires a staggering 1,700 gallons of H2O. Backers of the Senate bill say that less-thirsty technologies are just around the corner, which is what we've been hearing for years." (Editorial, "Ethanol's Water Shortage," The Wall Street Journal, October 17, 2007 [emphasis added])
- "Some corn-producing regions are already scrapping over dwindling supply. The Journal's Joe Barrett recently reported that Kansas is threatening to sue neighboring Nebraska for consuming more than its share of the Republican River. The Grand Forks Herald reports local opposition to a proposed ethanol plant in Erskine, Minnesota, with anti-refinery yard signs sprouting up and residents concerned about well water. Backers of a proposed plant in Jamestown, North Dakota, recently withdrew their application when it became clear that the plant's million-gallon-a-day appetite would drain too much from a local aquifer. In Wisconsin, new ethanol plants are encountering opposition in Sparta and Milton." (Editorial, "Ethanol's Water Shortage," The Wall Street Journal, October 17, 2007 [emphasis added])
What They're Saying About Ethanol's Impact on Water Quality…
National Academy of Sciences:
- "The quality of groundwater, rivers, and coastal and offshore waters could be impacted by increased fertilizer and pesticide use for biofuels, the report says. High levels of nitrogen in stream flows are a major cause of low-oxygen or 'hypoxic' regions, commonly known as 'dead zones,' which are lethal for most living creatures and cover broad areas of the Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay, and other regions." (Press Release, National Academy of Sciences, October 10, 2007)
- "Shifting agricultural practices to incorporate more biofuel crops will affect water quality as well as water quantity. Converting pastures or woodlands into cornfields, for example, may exacerbate problems associated with fertilizer runoff and soil erosion." (National Academy of Sciences, "Report in Brief: Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States," October 2007, p. 2 [emphasis added])
Informal Coalition of Environmental Advocacy Organizations:
- "Corn cultivation often involves intensive application of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, which pollutes water sources and already has contributed significantly to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. It also results in the emissions of nitrous oxide, a highly potent greenhouse gas, as well causing soil erosion. In addition, as corn is processed into ethanol, the depletion of water resources in agricultural regions of the U.S. would be greatly exacerbated." (Letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from the Borneo Project, Family Farm Defenders, Food & Water Watch, Food First, Friends of the Earth, Global Justice Ecology Project, Grassroots International, Institute for Social Ecology, International Forum on Globalization, Rainforest Action Network, Rising Tide North America, Student Trade Justice Campaign, October 9, 2007)
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