Protecting water resources in biofuels production

Abstract

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandates a five-fold increase in current biofuels production. This will substantially increase the current production of corn-based ethanol despite widespread concerns over its negative impact on the availability and quality of already stressed water resources. The National Academy of Sciences' (NAS) recently-released report on water use in biofuels production (principally corn-based ethanol) proposes improved on-farm irrigation efficiency and water recycling within biorefineries to reduce the impact on water availability. In a classic case of unintended consequences, we demonstrate that these measures may decrease the sustainability of biofuels production by increasingly stressing water supplies. Instead, these measures may be more effective in reducing the water quality impact of biofuels production-a role that the NAS report does not emphasize.

Between Water Abundance and Scarcity: Discourses, Biofuels, and Power in Piura, Peru

“…Ramos (2011) worked on four probable future scenarios, simulating water demand from the Poechos system for different crops, and showed that expanding the cultivation of sugarcane would affect water availability in the Chira-Piura regulated water system, leading to a decline in water availability. Other studies similarly demonstrated biofuels impacts on water and the environment (Delucchi 2010;Elcock 2010;Gerbens-Leenes et al 2009;Huffaker 2010;Moraes et al 2011;Perrone and Hornberger 2014). Nonetheless, the central government systematically overlooked these studies in favor of bioethanol production, thus aggravating the situation of the Chira Basin.…”

“…Since 2000, approximately 80 million ha of land in developing countries have been acquired for agribusiness. In many regions, the development of irrigated agriculture to produce bioenergy and food for export has increased water demand to previously unforeseen levels (Borras et al 2011b(Borras et al , 2011a(Borras et al , 2012a(Borras et al , 2012b(Borras et al , 2013FAO 2012;Franco et al 2013;HLPE 2011;Huffaker 2010;Kay and Franco 2012;Li 2011;Oxfam Internacional 2011;White et al 2012). Peru is among the Latin American countries with the largest commercial farms and plantations of flex crops, where land grabbing occurs to produce fruits, vegetables, sugarcane, oil palm, and minerals (Borras et al 2011b(Borras et al , 2011a(Borras et al , 2012a(Borras et al , 2012b.…”

Interactions among bioenergy feedstock choices, landscape dynamics, and land use

“…sources, plant species, and management practices (e.g., cultivation, fertilizer, and pesticide applications); (3) interactions with neighboring land uses; and (4) ecological and biogeochemical feedbacks within a landscape. At a regional scale, water availability and quality emerge as key factors, and yet the linkage between water and bioenergy feedstock choices on medium and large scales is poorly quantified and still debated (Dale et al 2010, Huffaker 2010, National Research Council 2010). An approach that considers both environmental and socioeconomic changes in landscape dynamics provides a way to quantify the influence of alternative bioenergy feedstock choices on water quality and other components of the environment over time.…”

Biocombustibles y agua. La transformación del espacio en Piura, Perú

“…A pesar de que en el ámbito internacional se han documentado los riesgos ambientales que implican los biocombustibles de primera generación 3 (Delucchi, 2010;Elcock, 2010;Gerbens-Leenes, Hoekstra y van der Meer, 2009;Huffaker, 2010;Moraes, Ringler y Cai, 2011;Perrone y Hornberger, 2014;Ramos, 2011), en el Perú la expectativa económica generada sobre estos terminó minimizando los impactos ambientales. En varias regiones del mundo los impactos de los biocombustibles en la tierra y el agua han sido motivo de estudio (Borras et al, 2011a(Borras et al, , 2011b(Borras et al, , 2012a(Borras et al, , 2012b(Borras et al, , 2013; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United 2 Los primeros se derivan de cultivos energéticos, los segundos de residuos agrícolas y los terceros de algas y fuentes de biomasa.…”

“…El desarrollo de combustibles de segunda y tercera generación no ha tenido mucho eco en el Perú (Novoa y Mutschler, 2010). Nations, 2011;Franco, Metha y Veldwisch, 2013;HLPE, 2011;Huffaker, 2010;Kay y Franco, 2012;Li, 2011;Oxfam Internacional, 2011;White et al, 2012).…”