Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Energy and Water: Preliminary Observations on the Lnks Between and Biofuels and Electricity Production

This Government Accountability Office testimony dated July 9, 2009 (GAO-09-862T) explains that the effects of producing corn-based ethanol on water supply and water
quality are fairly well understood, less is known about the effects of the next
generation of biofuel feedstocks.

Water usage in the corn-based ethanol conversion process has been declining and is currently estimated at 3 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol, the amount of water consumed in the conversion of cellulosic feedstocks is less defined and will depend on the process and on technological advancements that improve the efficiency with
which water is used.

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