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Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States

2008-01-09 Science
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Release : 2008-01-09
Genre : Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 653/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States by : National Research Council

Download or read book Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States written by National Research Council. This book was released on 2008-01-09. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: National interests in greater energy independence, concurrent with favorable market forces, have driven increased production of corn-based ethanol in the United States and research into the next generation of biofuels. The trend is changing the national agricultural landscape and has raised concerns about potential impacts on the nation's water resources. To help illuminate these issues, the National Research Council held a colloquium on July 12, 2007 in Washington, DC. Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States, based in part on discussions at the colloquium, concludes that if projected future increases in use of corn for ethanol production do occur, the increase in harm to water quality could be considerable from the increases in fertilizer use, pesticide use, and soil erosion associated with growing crops such as corn. Water supply problems could also develop, both from the water needed to grow biofuels crops and water used at ethanol processing plants, especially in regions where water supplies are already overdrawn. The production of "cellulosic ethanol," derived from fibrous material such as wheat straw, native grasses, and forest trimmings is expected to have less water quality impact but cannot yet be produced on a commerical scale. To move toward a goal of reducing water impacts of biofuels, a policy bridge will likely be needed to encourage growth of new technologies, best agricultural practies, and the development of traditional and cellulosic crops that require less water and fertilizer and are optimized for fuel production.

Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States

2008-01-09
Download Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2008-01-09
Genre :
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 943/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States by : Committee on Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States

Download or read book Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States written by Committee on Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States. This book was released on 2008-01-09. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: National interests in greater energy independence, concurrent with favorable market forces, have driven increased production of corn-based ethanol in the United States and research into the next generation of biofuels. The trend is changing the national agricultural landscape and has raised concerns about potential impacts on the nation's water resources. To help illuminate these issues, the National Research Council held a colloquium on July 12, 2007 in Washington, DC. "Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States," based in part on discussions at the colloquium, concludes that if projected future increases in use of corn for ethanol production do occur, the increase in harm to water quality could be considerable from the increases in fertilizer use, pesticide use, and soil erosion associated with growing crops such as corn. Water supply problems could also develop, both from the water needed to grow biofuels crops and water used at ethanol processing plants, especially in regions where water supplies are already overdrawn. The production of "cellulosic ethanol," derived from fibrous material such as wheat straw, native grasses, and forest trimmings is expected to have less water quality impact but cannot yet be produced on a commerical scale. To move toward a goal of reducing water impacts of biofuels, a policy bridge will likely be needed to encourage growth of new technologies, best agricultural practies, and the development of traditional and cellulosic crops that require less water and fertilizer and are optimized for fuel production.

Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States

2007 Electronic book
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Release : 2007
Genre : Electronic book
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : /5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States by :

Download or read book Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States written by . This book was released on 2007. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Sustainable Development of Algal Biofuels in the United States

2013-01-18 Science
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Release : 2013-01-18
Genre : Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 329/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Sustainable Development of Algal Biofuels in the United States by : National Research Council

Download or read book Sustainable Development of Algal Biofuels in the United States written by National Research Council. This book was released on 2013-01-18. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biofuels made from algae are gaining attention as a domestic source of renewable fuel. However, with current technologies, scaling up production of algal biofuels to meet even 5 percent of U.S. transportation fuel needs could create unsustainable demands for energy, water, and nutrient resources. Continued research and development could yield innovations to address these challenges, but determining if algal biofuel is a viable fuel alternative will involve comparing the environmental, economic and social impacts of algal biofuel production and use to those associated with petroleum-based fuels and other fuel sources. Sustainable Development of Algal Biofuels was produced at the request of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Agricultural Water Use Impacts of Biofuel Cultivation in the United States, and of California's Future Transportation Fuels

2015
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Release : 2015
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Book Rating : 249/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Agricultural Water Use Impacts of Biofuel Cultivation in the United States, and of California's Future Transportation Fuels by : Jacob Everett Teter

Download or read book The Agricultural Water Use Impacts of Biofuel Cultivation in the United States, and of California's Future Transportation Fuels written by Jacob Everett Teter. This book was released on 2015. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interdependencies between water and energy resources are emerging as one of the core concerns of resource management. Integrating a successful transition to low-carbon transportation technologies together with effective water resource management requires an understanding of regionally appropriate water-energy nexus impacts. This thesis seeks to further the understanding of the water use impacts of transport energy supply chains. In the first chapter, the development of a new model that can be used to estimate crop-water balances and irrigation water use across large geographic scopes is described. The model developed here, CropWatR, can be used to estimate annual and seasonal water flows between the soil, crops (or other non-forested landscapes), and the atmosphere at a daily time-step, and includes irrigation scheduling. It is made available on github and written in the R open-source language, which will be useful to other researchers in the future. In chapter two, the CropWatR model is applied to outputs of an integrated agriculture-energy-economic model designed to offer insights into the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fuel use, and economic impacts of biofuel production incentivized by selected policy instruments in the United States. The regional and national crop-water balances and potential trade-offs in water resource consumption and availability are compared across two biofuel policy scenarios, including the current federal legislation (the Renewable Fuels Standard), a hypothetical national extension of a policy similar to California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), and a no-policy counterfactual. Regional hotspots are identified where policies promoting domestic biofuels production might lead to decreased water resource availability. The third chapter focuses on the water use of all major energy supply chains providing energy for transport demand in California. The water use for in- and out-of-state oil and natural gas production, biofuel feedstocks cultivation, and electricity generation were characterized based on primary data sources within the state, and literature on the water footprint of energy production and transformation. This inventory of current water use intensity is combined with an energy-economic optimization model that projects energy pathways under various climate and energy policies (including California's 2050 GHG reduction target, Renewable Portfolio Standards, and the LCFS, inter alia) to project the water use implications of scenarios given California's climate, energy, and water policy. Chapters two and three provide case studies illustrating a lesson has been increasingly recognized in the literature and among policy makers: that effective resource management requires an integrated approach to understand the potential tradeoffs. Policy designs using integrated approach can maximize the benefits and can minimize unintended consequences.

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