Water Demands for Bioenergy Production

Abstract

The pressure to shift increasingly to renewable energy sources is escalating. The Johannesburg World Summit of Sustainable Development of 2002 defined in its Plan of Implementation that the global share of renewable energy sources should be increased substantially. Today, renewables account for 13.1% of the world's primary energy production. Eighty per cent of all renewable energy comes from biomass and 16% from hydropower. These two sources will thus be set under particular growth pressure in future years. This paper assesses the water needs of current and future bioenergy production and concludes that it is one of the major water consumers of this planet, although much neglected in global water assessments. The pressure to increase the share of bioenergy in the global account puts a considerable strain on water resources in all continents, but the challenges will be most pronounced in Asia and Africa.

Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the excellent support of the HUT Water Resources Laboratory and its staff. Particular thanks are due to professor Pertti Vakkilainen and Muhammad Mizanur Rahaman for their encouragement to this work. The inspiration and expertise of professor Asit K. Biswas is greatly acknowledged. The support from the Fortum Foundation and Maa- ja vesitekniikan tuki r.y. is greatly acknowledged.