Chris Van Nostrand

October 14, 2007

A committee convened by the National Research Council ("NRC") released a report on October 10th that found an increase in the use of corn for ethanol production might significantly affect water quality and availability. The committee found that the agricultural shift to increase corn production could affect water management and possibly the long-term viability of bio-fuel producing crops. This is troubling news especially after President Bush called for an annual production of 35 billon gallons of ethanol by 2017 in his most recent State of the Union Address. That increase would account for about 15% of liquid transportation fuels in the United States.

The committee found that agricultural shifts to corn in more arid regions might force these regions to alter their irrigation techniques to a point where water quantity would decline. The committee posited that this shift could affect the water demands for drinking, industry, recreational use, and fishing habitat by creating water-use competition with the growing demand for ethanol crops. Other possible problems with the increase in ethanol production are increased sedimentation of streams and rivers, pollution from pesticides, and nutrient loading from fertilizers. The committee also considered the water needs of the bio-refineries that extract the ethanol from the agricultural product. The increased need at bio-refineries could alter local water sources depending on the siting of the refinery.

During his State of the Union address President Bush stated, "It's in our interest to diversify America's energy supply -- the way forward is through technology." To support his proposal, the President cited the need for a decrease in gasoline use (20% in the next ten years), the need for a cleaner environment, and of course a decreased dependence on foreign oil. For these reasons, the President called on Congress to set new mandatory fuel standards that would include the increased production of ethanol. Supporters of the measure hail ethanol as the new frontier in clean fuel and as a possible replacement for MTBE, a fuel additive that has been linked to cancer. Supporters also claim the increase in production will be a boon to farmers increasing the demand for corn that will cause an overall price increase.

Critics of the increase in ethanol production are wary of the benefits preached by the President and ethanol producers. These critics cite an earlier 1999 study conducted by the National Academy of Science that found that ethanol, when mixed with gasoline, might not decrease pollution; in fact, it may actually increase the pollution linked to smog. The new NRC report highlights additional environmental problems that may be associated with the increased production of ethanol. Also, the committee identified new agricultural techniques and technologies that would help minimize the effects of ethanol on water resources. The NRC committee found that "fundamental knowledge gaps" existed as to the possible effect ethanol would have on water supply here in the United States.

Sources:

Press Release, National Research Council, Increase in Ethanol Production From Corn Could Significantly Impact Water Quality and Availability if New Practices and Techniques Are Not Employed (Oct. 10, 2007), available at http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12039.

Cornelia Dean, Panel Sees Problems in Ethanol Production, N.Y. Times, Oct. 11, 2007, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/science/11water.html?ref=science.

President George W. Bush, State of the Union Address (Jan. 23, 2007), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070123-2.html.

John W. Shoen, Is there Enough Corn For Bush Ethanol Plan, MSNBC, available at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16792220/page/2/.

Iowa Corn, Ethanol Myths, http://www.iowacorn.org/ethanol/ethanol_3b.html (last visited Oct. 12, 2007).

Lizilette Alvarez & David Barboza, Support Grows for Corn Based Fuel Despite Critics, N.Y. Times (July 23, 2001), available at http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E5D7103AF930A15754C0A9679C8B63&n=Top/News/Science/Topics/Global%20Warming.