Corn-based Biofuel Costs 50 Gallons of Water per Mile
Federal requirements to increase the production of ethanol has developed into a "drink-or-drive issue" in the Midwest as a result of biofuel production’s impact on water supplies and water quality, says an environmental engineering researcher at Missouri University of Science and Technology in the latest issue of the journalEnvironmental Science & Technology.
In an analysis of the water required to produce ethanol from various crops, Joel G. Burken, Ph.D., a professor of environmental engineering at Missouri S&T, and colleagues from Rice University and Clarkson University find that ethanol could become a costly proposition in terms of "gallons per mile" and other water quality issues. They describe the Midwest’s water needs and impacts as the "water footprint" in the cover feature for the May 1 issue of Environmental Science & Technology.
