Is Ethanol Tapping Too Much Water?
As the industry expands, Minnesota’s groundwater supply is under greater pressure.
Minneapolis Star Tribune:
With a flood of ethanol plants headed toward Minnesota, there’s growing concern about whether there will be enough groundwater to satisfy the booming industry’s thirst.
The issue was brought into focus last year in Granite Falls, where an ethanol plant in its first year of operations depleted the groundwater so much that it had to begin pumping water from the Minnesota River.
It takes between four and five gallons of water to produce a gallon of ethanol at a biofuel plant, and with 17 ethanol plants now operating in the state, 6 under construction and 10 more proposed or in the planning stages, the threat of more drains on underground water are rising.
This week, the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board will convene an interagency group as the first step toward looking more closely at ethanol and groundwater availability. The board accepted a request two weeks ago from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which regulates ethanol plants. Continue reading…
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