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“Irrigation consumes a lot of water,” says Averyt. Evaporation is the culprit, and there is great c nike air hoop structure, oncern over losses in this area, even though the water in theory returns to Earth as precipitation. “Just because evaporation happens here, does not mean it will rain here,” says Averyt. Bec nike air foamposite one, ause irrigation is needed most in arid areas, the watering of crops exacerbates the uneven spread of global water supply.

Experts worry that water demand for fuel will sap water needed for foo nike free run plus 2, d crops as world population is increasing. “Biofuels, in particular, will siphon water away from food production,” says Postel. “How will we then feed 9 billion people?” (See relat nike air max 90 hyperfuse, ed quiz: “What You Don’t Know About Food, Water, and Energy.”)

But irrigation rates vary widely by region, and even in the same region, farming practices can vary significantly from air jordan 2, one year to the next, depending on rainfall. That means there’s a great deal of uncertainty in any estimates of biofuel water-intensity, including IEA’s.

For example, for corn ethanol (favored jordan 4, product of the world’s number one biofuel producer, the United States), IEA estimates of water consumption can range from four gallons to 560 gallons of water for every gallon of corn ethanol produce Reebok Ex O Fit, d. At the low end, that’s about on par with some of the gasoline on the market, production of which consumes from one-quarter gallon to four gallons water per gallon of fuel. But at the high end, biof Adidas 35 anniversary, uels are significantly thirstier than the petroleum products they’d be replacing. For sugar cane ethanol (Brazil’s main biofuel), IEA’s estimate spans an even greater range: from 1.1 gallon to 2,772 g Women Nike Dunk SB, allons of water per gallon of fuel.

It’s not entirely clear how much biofuel falls at the higher end of the range. In the United States, only about 18 to 22 percent of U.S. corn production cam Adidas Bags, e from irrigated fields, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And the remaining water in ethanol production in the United States—the amount consumed in the milling, distilling, and refinin Diesel Hoodies, g processes—has been cut in half over the past decade through recycling and other techniques, both industry sources and government researchers say. (One industry survey now puts the figure at 2.7 gall jordan 2 shoes, ons water per gallon of ethanol.) A number of technologies are being tested to further cut water use.