The DOI matches its Crossref record; 28 of the 30 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Accounting for the water impacts of ethanol production
Open accessAbstract
Biofuels account for 1–2% of global transportation fuel and their share is projected to continue rising, with potentially serious consequences for water resources. However, current literature does not present sufficient spatial resolution to characterize this localized effect. We used a coupled agro-climatic and life cycle assessment model to estimate the water resource impacts of bioenergy expansion scenarios at a county-level resolution. The study focused on the case of California, with its range of agroecological conditions, water scarcity, and aggressive alternative fuel incentive policies. Life cycle water consumption for ethanol production in California is up to 1000 times that of gasoline due to a cultivation phase that consumes over 99% of life cycle water use for agricultural biofuels. This consumption varies by up to 60% among different feedstocks and by over 350% across regions in California. Rigorous policy analysis requires spatially resolved modeling of water resource impacts and careful consideration of the various metrics that might act to constrain technology and policy options.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Although biofuels are renewably sourced, the production of biofuel crops can lead to competition for natural resources, particularly land, food, and water [61,62].”
From Investigation of Biofuel as a Potential Renewable Energy Source (2021) · cites this paper as [62]
In the citing paper
“Large-scale bioenergy production and associated additional demand for irrigation may further intensify existing pressures on water resources [21].”
From The effect of bioenergy expansion: food, energy, and environment (2014) · cites this paper as [21]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Crop evapotranspiration : guidelines for computing crop water requirements
Allen, R. G., Pereira, L. S., Raes, D., & Smith, M. (1998) · FAO eBooks · Cited by 20,540
Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases Through Emissions from Land-Use Change
Searchinger, T., Heimlich, R., Houghton, R. A., Dong, F., Elobeid, A., Fabiosa, J., Tokgoz, S., Hayes, D., & Yu, T.-H. (2008) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1151861 · Cited by 4,888 · cited 3×
“For example, the developing understanding of market-mediated or ‘indirect’ land use change (Searchinger et al 2008, Fargione et al 2008) may cause production of biofuel feedstocks to trend away from currently cultivated land.”
InfluentialLand Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt
Fargione, J., Hill, J., Tilman, D., Polasky, S., & Hawthorne, P. (2008) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1152747 · Cited by 3,902
Ethanol Can Contribute to Energy and Environmental Goals
Farrell, A. E., Plevin, R. J., Turner, B. T., Jones, A. D., O'Hare, M., & Kammen, D. M. (2006) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1121416 · Cited by 2,823
Faurès, J.-M. (. )., Svendsen, M., & Turral, H. N. (2013) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781849773799 · Cited by 1,929
Carbon-Negative Biofuels from Low-Input High-Diversity Grassland Biomass
Tilman, D., Hill, J., & Lehman, C. (2006) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1133306 · Cited by 1,813
Water footprints of nations: Water use by people as a function of their consumption pattern
Hoekstra, A. Y., & Chapagain, A. K. (2006) · Water Resources Management · doi:10.1007/s11269-006-9039-x · Cited by 1,458
Aden, A., Ruth, M., Ibsen, K., Jechura, J., Neeves, K., Sheehan, J., Wallace, B., Montague, L., Slayton, A., & Lukas, J. (2002) · doi:10.2172/15001119 · Cited by 1,197
Doorenbos, J., Pruitt, W. O., & Aboukhaled, A. (1997) · Cited by 1,116
Water for food, water for life: a comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture
(2007) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.45-0867 · Cited by 900
The water footprint of bioenergy
Gerbens-Leenes, W., Hoekstra, A. Y., & van der Meer, T. H. (2009) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0812619106 · Cited by 774
Hertel, T. W., Golub, A. A., Jones, A. D., O'Hare, M., Plevin, R. J., & Kammen, D. M. (2010) · BioScience · doi:10.1525/bio.2010.60.3.8 · Cited by 554
Self-citationGleick, P. H. (1994) · Annual Review of Energy and the Environment · doi:10.1146/annurev.eg.19.110194.001411 · Cited by 527
Pereira, L. S., & Alves, I. (2013) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-409548-9.05129-0 · Cited by 431
Chapagain, A. K., & Hoekstra, A. Y. (2004) · University of Twente Research Information · Cited by 403
Bioenergy and water—the implications of large-scale bioenergy production for water use and supply
Berndes, G. (2002) · Global Environmental Change · doi:10.1016/s0959-3780(02)00040-7 · Cited by 358
Water Intensity of Transportation
King, C. W., & Webber, M. E. (2008) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es800367m · Cited by 238
Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States
National Research Council (2008) · National Academies Press eBooks · doi:10.17226/12039 · Cited by 231
Hastings, A., CLIFTON‐BROWN, J., Wattenbach, M., Mitchell, C. P., & Smith, P. (2009) · GCB Bioenergy · doi:10.1111/j.1757-1707.2009.01007.x · Cited by 183
Water Embodied in Bioethanol in the United States
Chiu, Y., Walseth, B., & Suh, S. (2009) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es8031067 · Cited by 148
Consumptive water use in the production of ethanonl and petroleum gasoline.
Wu, M. M., Mintz, M., Wang, M., & Arora, S. (2009) · doi:10.2172/947085 · Cited by 100
Governance of the emerging bio-energy markets
Verdonk, M., Dieperink, C., & Faaij, A. P. C. (2007) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2006.12.028 · Cited by 69
Making Certification Work for Sustainable Development: The Case of Biofuels
Zarrilli, S. (2009) · Oil, Gas & Energy Law Journal · Cited by 53
European Union Policy on Bioenergy and the Role of Sustainability Criteria and Certification Systems
Schlegel, S., & Kaphengst, T. (2007) · Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization · doi:10.2202/1542-0485.1193 · Cited by 44
Another Biofuels Drawback: The Demand for Irrigation
Service, R. F. (2009) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.326_516 · Cited by 41
Hecht, A. D., Shaw, D. M., Bruins, R., Dale, V. H., Kline, K. L., & Chen, A. P. (2008) · Ecotoxicology · doi:10.1007/s10646-008-0293-y · Cited by 27
Assuring Water for Food: The Challenge of the Coming Generation
Serageldin, I. (2001) · International Journal of Water Resources Development · doi:10.1080/07900620120094154 · Cited by 16
CUP (Consumptive Use Program) Model
Orang, M. N., Snyder, R. L., & Matyac, S. (2005) · Cited by 2
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Keeney D, 2006, Water Use by Ethanol Plants: Potential Challenges
- Orang M, 2005, California Water Plan Update 2005: A Framework for Action
- Schlegel S, 2007, J. Agric. Food Indust. Organ., 5, 7
- United Nations Conference on Trade, 2008
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Trends in bioconversion of lignocellulose: Biofuels, platform chemicals & biorefinery concept
Menon, V., & Rao, M. (2012) · Progress in Energy and Combustion Science · doi:10.1016/j.pecs.2012.02.002 · Cited by 1,631
The effect of bioenergy expansion: food, energy, and environment
Popp, J., Lakner, Z., Harangi-Rákos, M., & Fári, M. (2014) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2014.01.056 · Cited by 967
The Global Food‐Energy‐Water Nexus
D’Odorico, P., Davis, K. F., Rosa, L., Carr, J. A., Chiarelli, D. D., Dell’Angelo, J., Gephart, J. A., MacDonald, G. K., Seekell, D. A., Suweis, S. S., et al. (2018) · Reviews of Geophysics · doi:10.1029/2017rg000591 · Cited by 850
Heterogeneously Catalyzed Hydrothermal Processing of C5–C6 Sugars
Zhang, X., Wilson, K., & Lee, A. F. (2016) · Chemical Reviews · doi:10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00311 · Cited by 341
An assessment on the sustainability of lignocellulosic biomass for biorefining
Nanda, S., Azargohar, R., Dalai, A. K., & Koziński, J. A. (2015) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2015.05.058 · Cited by 340
Metadata
- Authors
- Fingerman, K. R., Torn, M. S., O’Hare, M. H., & Kammen, D. M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kammen, Daniel M
- Venue
- Environmental Research Letters
- Publisher
- IOP Publishing
- Published
- 2010-01
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 014020
- ISSN
- 1748-9326 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2162937654
- Cited by
- 115
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 9.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Environmental Research Letters (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- California Air Resources Board
- California Energy Commission
- Energy Biosciences Institute
- European Commission
- University of California, Davis
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Bioenergy crop production and management
- Keywords
- ethanol production, biofuels, water consumption, life cycle assessment, water scarcity, feedstock, California, biofuel policy, agricultural water use
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
