Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - 8:30 AM
10-02
Life Cycle Consumptive Water Use in Fuel Production
May Wu and Michael Wang. Center for Transportation Research, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Ave, Argonne, IL 60439
Feedstock and fuel production requires intensive water input, which is particularly true for biofuel feedstocks, such as agricultural crops. Recently there is a growing public concern on the technology development and implementation especially pertaining to water used by energy and energy used by water. It became more urgent because of sever drought in southern states in US this year. The purpose of this work is to address the water use for energy generation in US by providing a baseline of current consumptive water use in the fuel industries including ethanol, petroleum oil, etc. and examining two major steps of the fuel life cycle – feedstock production and fuel processing/production. This work is an attempt to analyze regional variation, historic trend of consumptive water use in the selected fuel production life cycle, and identify opportunities to reduce water use for fuel production. Results from this study could be used to address water resource sustainability, guide R&DD directions in renewable fuel development, and to provide a basis for decision-making in order to meet the overarching goal of energy independence for the nation.