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Ethanol Industry Looks For Water-Saving Ideas
By Mr Ethanol | November 13, 2007
Water Technology Online:
Some ethanol producers, who face increasing concerns about the amount of water needed to make that biofuel, are putting researchers to work to figure out how to reduce their plants’ water requirements, The Wall Street Journal reported November 12 in a special section on energy.
Houston-based Journal writer Jessica Resnick-Ault quoted one ethanol plant designer, Delta T Corp. of Williamsburg, VA, as saying that it has developed a system which consumes just 1.5 gallons of water for each gallon of ethanol produced, compared with current ethanol-plant consumption rates of 4 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol.
The article also quotes Paul Greene, global director of food, beverage and biofuels industries for Siemens Water Technologies, as saying that a single ethanol plant can consume as much water as a city of 30,000. An Environmental Defense Fund spokesman said in the article that even a small ethanol plant will consume the same amount of water as a city of 10,000.
Such consumption is becoming a critical issue in areas where groundwater levels are falling or where there is severe drought.
Several ethanol producers, including agribusiness giant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., are putting water engineers and plant designers to work to figure out how to reduce their plants’ water-consumption impact, the article said.
A number of other approaches are being looked at, from using more reused wastewater instead of drinking water for ethanol plant feedwater, to reducing the amount of water needed to grow corn, the principal crop used in ethanol production.
Topics: Ecology, Ethanol, Saving, Trends |
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