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Biofuels, water resources and climate change: Solving the sustainability puzzle

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Abstract

Nebraska is now the second-largest producer of corn ethanol in the U.S. This is largely because of the state’s comparative advantages. For one, the state’s water resources enable a huge capacity for irrigation – Nebraska ranks second in irrigated crop acres, behind California. Nebraska is the third-largest corn producer in the U.S., with 75 percent of the crop irrigated. The state also produces nearly 5 million acres of soybeans, half of them irrigated. Both provide a large, dependable supply of feedstock for production of ethanol and other biofuels. Nebraska’s cattle feeding industry, with more than 4.5 million head on feed, utilizes ethanol byproducts such as distillers grains and enables biorefinery systems to attain high energy efficiency and profitability. This powerful nexus of agriculture, water and biofuels is highly vulnerable to changes in climate. The panelists represented a cross-section of these interests, including a manager of the state’s longest-operating ethanol plant, a farmer with extensive knowledge of ethanol production, the administrator of the state ethanol board and a project manager from a federal agency charged with tracking land use and its ties to biofuel production and climate change.

Study Area

Publication type Conference Paper
Publication Subtype Conference Paper
Title Biofuels, water resources and climate change: Solving the sustainability puzzle
Year Published 2009
Language English
Publisher The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska
Contributing office(s) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
Description 4 p.
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Conference publication
Larger Work Title Proceedings from the 2008 climate change workshop
Country United States
State Nebraska
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