Ethanol plants in Minnesota use from 3.5 gallons to six gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol from corn, says the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.Water is becoming an issue in the U.S., but it's far more pronounced in China and India, where figures like those above multiply existing problems manyfold.
As many as 400 Chinese cities are facing water shortages; farmers in the most populous nation are forgoing millions of tonnes of grain production every year. Per-capita availability of water is expected to shrink to alarming levels by 2030.How serious is the shortage? "The only thing that worries me about the China story is the water problem," said commodities investor Jim Rogers, chairman of Beeland Interests in New York and a fan of China.
Should she have to compete with cars?
"If China cannot solve the water problem, that could be the end of the story," said Rogers....
Amid this water scarcity, China has gone on to become the world's third- largest bio-ethanol producer after Brazil and the United States, pouring thousands of gallons of water to grow a tonne of corn, and then using more water to turn the corn into ethanol.
What a colossal waste. As recently as December, the Chinese government came up with controls on corn-to- ethanol projects so as not to lose more precious water to producing fuel at the expense of food.
The tradeoff between water and biofuels may also be crucial for India. One sixth of India's food output is being supported by pumping groundwater, which is depleting rapidly.
In the state of Tamil Nadu, more than a third of aquifers are "overexploited," meaning the rate at which water is being extracted is more than the pace of recharge. - The Standard
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