Looming Asian water crisis: wastewater practices, poor planning blamed; biofuels not helping

November 29, 2007

A report released by the Asian Development Bank outlined a looming crisis in Asian water supply. The report blamed neglect of wastewater management practices for the crisis, and said that the rising popularity of biofuels would make the situation worse unless Asian nations addressed their water usage practices.

A recent International Water Management Institute study found that it will require 26% of India’s water supply to produce enough ethanol to meet a 10 percent mandate. India will need 4,000 liters of water for every liter of ethanol produced — acceptable for water-laden Brazil, but not viable in India given the looming water shortage. 60% of Indian water supply is currently diverted to human use.

There has been great controversy regarding the water usage of ethanol plants. The Crown Prince of Holland was quoted saying it takes as much water to produce ethanol to fill an SUV tank as it takes to grow enough grains to feed one person for a year.
How much water does ethanol consume? Using: the USDA US adult average consumption of grains; an allowance of 449 gallons of water per pound of corn based on irrigation tables; and a usage of 2.19 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol based on a North Dakota plant breaking ground today: we conclude that it takes 37 incremental gallons of water to make enough E85 ethanol to fill an SUV. That’s enough water to sustain the average US adult grain diet for 216 minutes.

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Written by Jim Lane · Filed Under International, Policy