ETHANOL PLANTS SUCK UP WATER

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STAR TRIBUNE, MN - 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, six under construction and 10 more proposed or in the
planning stages, the threat of more drains on underground water are
rising. . .

The industry is consuming about 2 billion gallons of groundwater per
year, according to state estimates. That amount could quadruple by 2011
if the state's ethanol production more than doubles, as expected. . .

http://www.startribune.com/local/14471982.html

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