Biofuels: implications for agricultural water use

Rising energy prices, geopolitics and concerns over the impacts of green house gas emissions on climate change are increasing the demand for biofuel production. At present biofuel production is estimated at 35 billion liters, accounting only for a small part of the 1200 billion liters of annual gasoline consumption worldwide. But the contribution of biofuels to energy supply is expected to grow fast with beneficial impacts including reductions in greenhouse gasses, improved energy security, new income sources for farmers and greater energy efficiency compared to fossil fuels. However, biomass production for energy will also compete with food crops for scarce land and water resources, already a major constraint to agricultural production in many parts of the world. China and India, the world’s two largest producers and consumers of many agricultural commodities, already face severe water limitations in agricultural production, yet both have initiated programs to boost biofuel production. This paper explores the land and water implications of increased biofuel production globally and with special focus on these two important countries, using the WATERSIM model. It concludes that even if aggressive plans to increase biofuel output come to fruition, they will have relatively minor impacts on the global food system and water use. However, local and regional impacts could be substantialIn fact, the strain on water resources would be such in China and India that it is unlikely that policy makers will pursue biofuel options, at least those based on traditional field crops.