Projected Corn-Based Ethanol Production Would Dominate Water Consumption for the Energy Sector
1/29/2009
 | Over the next 20 years, the water consumed by energy production is projected to increase at a faster rate than that for any other sector. In addition, the amount of water projected to be consumed by energy production is greater than that for any other sector except irrigation. Argonne`s Environmental Science Division (EVS) has issued a Technical Memorandum that examines estimated water demand for various energy and nonenergy sectors. Baseline and Projected Water Demand Data for Energy and Competing Water Use Sectors, funded by the National Energy Technology Laboratory's Existing Plants Research Program, which has an energy-water research effort that focuses on water use at power plants, illustrates the dependency of future energy production on adequate water supplies.
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| The report projects water consumption at the national and regional levels for the following energy production sectors: coal (mining and slurry transportation), oil (crude oil exploration and production, liquids from unconventional sources, and refining), gas (processing, pipeline transport, and gas from tight sands and shale), biofuels (biodiesel and ethanol production), and hydrogen production. It also projects water consumption for irrigation, domestic/public, industrial/commercial, and livestock uses. |
While the growth in water consumption by the energy sector dominates the water-demand forecast over the period, by far the single largest projected consumer of water within the energy sector is biofuels production. Water consumption for biofuels production is projected to increase by 19 billion gallons per day (bgd), or by 2.5 times, between 2005 and 2030. Most of this increase is for the production of corn-based ethanol, which is projected to increase by nearly 13 bgd and accounts for roughly 60% of the total projected nationwide increase in water consumption over the projection period. It is more than double the amount of water projected to be consumed for industrial and commercial use in 2030 by the entire United States. |  | Virtually all of the corn-based ethanol production is expected to occur in the West North Central U.S. Census Region (North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri). 
Water-demand projections were derived by multiplying sector-specific water-demand coefficients (e.g., gallons of water consumed per barrel of oil produced with enhanced oil recovery) times sector-specific energy production projections prepared by the U.S. Department of Energy`s Energy Information Administration. Projections were made at the national and regional levels. Because the regions vary depending on energy sector (e.g., coal supply regions for coal mining, U.S. Census regions for biofuels), a geographical information system was used to prepare overlay maps to allow for visual comparison of regional water-demand trends over the projection period. The report`s analysis of the extent and location of water demand by competing users can help policymakers identify potential constraints for energy supply and production and can identify areas (e.g., biofuels production) that need further research. Such knowledge can also help decision makers develop policy and technology recommendations to avoid potential supply issues and to ensure that the nation`s energy demands are met in a cost-effective manner Baseline and Projected Water Demand Data for Energy and Competing Water Use Sectors, ANL/EVS/TM/08-8, is available at ANL-EVS-TM08-8_water_demand_report.pdf.
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