by Brandy Lellou

Created on: November 05, 2008

In the race to develop and produce alternative energies their impact on water resources must not be overlooked. When searching for an alternative energy source, we expect the alternative to be better than the existing source; better economically and better environmentally. However, in regions already under water stress, such as the Western United States, biofuel production will further decrease the availability of freshwater for development and limit water for ecosystem survival, food and livestock production, and for meeting the basic needs of people in the region. Current policies in the United States promote and subsidize the production of bio-fuels and many view bio-fuels as an environmentally sustainable alternative source of energy.

An overview of at the interrelationship between water and biofuel production will quickly tell you that this practice is not environmentally sustainable. Let us look at one feedstock crop corn' which is widely used to produce ethanol in the United States. Corn for ethanol production is grown mostly in the Corn Belt and western U.S.

In Iowa, under partial irrigation, corn production uses about 1081 gallons of water for every gallon of ethanol produced. In dry regions, such as the southwestern part of Nebraska where corn is fully irrigated, corn production uses over 1500 gallons of water for every gallon of ethanol produced.(1) Thus, the 13.9 billion gallons of ethanol that was produced in the United States in 2006, required an average of 18 trillion gallons of water. This is more water than the entire US population consumes for domestic use in a year, yet it only replaces 3% of our fuel needs.(2)

In addition, biofuel production has an impact on water quality as well. For example, corn is the most nitrogen intensive of major field crops, excess nitrates travel through the soil and leach into ground water, contaminating both soil and water resources. In October 2007, the National Academies of Sciences in the United States released a report that warned of the implications of bio-fuel production on water availability and quality in the United States. The report states that "if projected increases in the use of corn for ethanol production occur, the harm to water quality could be considerable, and water supply problems at the regional and local levels could also arise."(3)

The goal that is so often spoken of when discussing alternative energy is Energy Independence' which means: Developing energy sources that can take us into the

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