Sangwon SuhSangwon Suh
Dept. Bioproducts and Biosystems Dept. Bioproducts and Biosystems EngineeringEngineering
University of MinnesotaUniversity of Minnesota
Ethanol mandates
2
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Senate objectives on advanced biofuel production (billions of gallons)
Senate objectives on conventional biofuel production (billions of gallons)
Biofuel production statistics (billions of gallons)
3
Where the water is used?Where the water is used?
Source: Delta-T corp.
MN ethanol plants’ water use rate
Source: DNR (2006) and own data collected
Wat
er u
se /
eth
anol
pro
ducti
on
(gal
lon/
gallo
n)
Where the water come from?
Facility CountyEthanol Capacity Reported Annual Water Usage (MGY)
MGY1 wells (owned) well (public) surface (owned) surface (public) others
AlbertLea(Exol/Agri resources) Freeborn 41 205 0
Atwater(BushmillsEthanol) Kandiyohi 48 200
Benson(CVEC) Swift 46 160 0 0 0 0
BinghamLake(Ethanol2000) Cottonwood 35 0 129 0 0 0
BuffaloLake(MN energy) Renville 19 88.5
Claremont(Al-Corn) Dodge 38 146.6 16
GraniteFallsEnergy Yellow Medicine 48 0.15 15.2 108.4 0 6
HeronLakeBioenergy Jackson 50 210
LakeCrystal Blue Earth 54 230
LittleFalls(CMEC) Morrison 22 0 88.75 0 0 0
Luverne(Corn-erStone) Rock 22 95
Marshall(ADM)* Lyon 40 0 469 0 0 0
Melrose(DairyProteins) Stearns 3 12
Morris(DENCO) Stevens 25 152.4
Preston(Pro-Corn) Fillmore 42 165
Winnebago(Corn Plus) Faribault 47 135 0 0 0 0
Winthrop(Heartland) Sibley 100 90 200
Comparing with state total Bi
llion
Gal
lons
per
yea
r (in
yea
r 20
07)
Water-intensive industry?
Estimations based on water use, water price, and ethanol production data (own data collected; Smith et al., 2008; Dept. public health, 2008; DNR, 2007)
Demand: Ethanol Water FootprintApproximately 9.6 trillion gallons of water were
appropriated by the U.S. ethanol industry in 2007
806 billion gallons: irrigated water from aquifers
475 billion gallons: irrigated water from surface
water sources
26 billion gallons: ethanol facilities process water
(mostly groundwater).
Water appropriation for ethanol industry is
equivalent to 10% of Mississippi River’s annual flow
Comparing EtOH Water Appropriation
Source Water
Multidisciplinary EffortsTwo testimonials to Legislative Citizens
Commission for Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
Substantial media coverage on the issue, but
often with conflicting information.
Two new projects: (1) from LCCMR, (2)
USDA/DOE.
Meeting with John Wells – various activities
around the issue across MN.
Serial MeetingsWe’ll continually arrange integrated meetings
How the issue is perceived by the expert groups?
What can we do as a group of experts to better inform the general public and policy makers on water implications of energy industry development?
What are the knowledge/data gaps to better understand the issue?
Is there a common methodological/modeling ground for analysis?
Objectives of the MeetingsInformation/perspective sharing
Ongoing activities by various institutions around MN.Available data and resources.Modeling frameworks.Water implications of biofuel development in general.Key knowledge/data gaps.
Discuss possible consensus buildingCommon methodological/modeling ground.The current state and the future prospects of water
implications of ethanol development.
Our overall observationWater use by biofuel conversion processes does not seem
to be a major threat for MN water resource at the state-level.
At a local level, however, water use by biofuel plant can be a problem depending on the ground water availability and public water supply capacity of the area.
Broad range of cost-effective water conservation measures should be discussed in all areas of water use (not only in biofuel conversion processes).
Standardized data, model and analytical method to determine location-specific water availability will be helpful to site biofuel plants considering water availability.