Dry At The Pump

Conservation Magazine - Journal Watch Online
June 5, 2009

When it comes to water, bioenergy is not one size fits all

Think you’re saving the planet by filling up with biodiesel? You might want to do your research first. If jatropha was the source, then you just consumed more than 300,000 gallons of water while filling an average-sized tank.

A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ranks the water footprint of twelve of the world’s most common crops along with jatropha, which is often considered a more sustainable or “advanced” biofuel. Per liter of fuel, jatropha, it turns out, is the most water-hungry of the bunch.

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