University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Search
Search
News
Multimedia
Sports
Classifieds
Opinion
Subscribe
Entertainment
Send a Tip
In-Depth
Donate

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Minnesota Daily Logo

Tuesday, April 24, 2018 Print Edition

Subscribe

  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
  • Classifieds
  • Send a Tip
  • Donate
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
  • Classifieds
  • Send a Tip
  • Donate
Search

Subscribe

The independent news source for the University of Minnesota campus, now only a click away. Subscribe to the Minnesota Daily's e-newsletter for full sports coverage, updates from the newsroom, and a pick of the week's top features.

Minnesota Daily Newsletter

Fill out my online form.

Donate to the Minnesota Daily!

The Minnesota Daily has been training student journalists and serving the University of Minnesota community since 1900. With your help, we will continue to produce award-winning journalism and provide excellent training for students in all areas of news production. We collect donations through GiveMN; please click below and donate today!

   

MINNESOTA DAILY | GiveMN


4/15/2009, 12:00am

Study: Ethanol production more efficient in Minnesota

The study found producing one liter of ethanol in Minnesota requires 19 liters of water, compared to 2,100 liters of water needed in California.

Share

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Mail
  • Print

Producing ethanol in Minnesota and other Midwestern states uses far less water during processing than western states where more irrigation is needed, according to a University of Minnesota study released Wednesday. The study, which appeared in the April 15 edition of Environmental Science and Technology, found in Minnesota, where 2.2 billion liters of ethanol were produced in 2007, it takes 19 liters of water to grow and harvest corn and then process it into ethanol. California, the nationâÄôs 13th largest ethanol producer, needed 2,100 liters of water to produce one gallon of ethanol âÄî making it the worst state in water efficiency. By comparison, Iowa, the nationâÄôs largest corn ethanol producer, uses about six liters of water to make one liter of ethanol. With the results of this study, lead author and bioproducts and biosystems engineering professor Sangwon Suh said policy makers can consider the water costs of producing ethanol in different areas of the U.S. as they look to expand the industry. Even though water is a cheap commodity in the United States, Suh said âÄúthe perception that water is everywhere is a problem.âÄù There is a risk of humans depleting water supplies faster than they are refilled by rainfall, he said, so itâÄôs important that water not be used inefficiently to grow corn for fuel. âÄúWater security is too important to sacrifice for energy security,âÄù he said. Suh said water is used inefficiently for corn irrigation because if the crop was grown in a part of the country with better rainfall, irrigation wouldnâÄôt be necessary and water could be saved. Irrigation is used to grow only 11 percent of the corn in the United States, he said, but that 11 percent accounts for 98 percent of the total water used in ethanol production. âÄúIf that 11 percent can be produced in the regions that do not need irrigation, we can reduce 98 percent of the water used to produce ethanol,âÄù Suh said. Cornell University ecology and agricultural sciences professor David Pimentel , who conducted similar research to SuhâÄôs, questioned the value of SuhâÄôs research results because they donâÄôt include rainfall consumed during corn production in the total cost. In the study Pimentel helped conduct, he said researchers found that 2,900 liters of water are required to make one liter of ethanol, regardless of whether the water came from irrigation or natural rainfall. By only looking at the water input from irrigation, SuhâÄôs study doesnâÄôt take a broad enough view, Pimentel said. For farmers and ethanol producers in states like Nebraska, water is âÄúa precious resource,âÄù Todd Sneller administrator of the Nebraska Ethanol Board, said. Although Nebraska ranked lowest in efficiency for states producing more than 1 billion liters of ethanol, Sneller said farmers and producers are constantly working to conserve water because it is such an important resource.

Share



Related Stories

Online sexual assault reporting program could come to UMN

By Max Chao

The Minneapolis Police Department and University of Minnesota Police Department responded to a disturbance at Northrop following the Somali Student Association's Somali Night 2018 event on Friday, April 20.

Groups dispute facts of incident at Somali Student Association event

By Kelly Busche and Madeline Deninger

Assistant Professor in Learning Technologies Bodong Chen poses for portraits in the LT Media Lab in St. Paul on Wednesday, April 18.

University of Minnesota professors use their free time to write free textbooks

By Max Chao


The Minnesota Daily welcomes thoughtful discussion on all of our stories, but please keep comments civil and on-topic. Read our full guidelines here.


Editor's Picks


Last Updated 9 hours ago

UMN students work to combat library laptop thefts

By David Mullen

Library laptop thefts have doubled this semester at the University.


4/23/2018, 2:25am

University of Minnesota supplemental budget funding left out of omnibus bills


4/22/2018, 8:15pm

Groups dispute facts of incident at Somali Student Association event


4/19/2018, 9:03am

Crisp & Green set to open in Dinkytown


Minnesota Daily Logo To Homepage
  • About
  • Jobs
  • Contact
  • Archives
  • Advertise
  • Distribution

All Rights Reserved

© Copyright 2018 Minnesota Daily

Powered by Solutions by The State News.