Through the use of a stochastic simulation model this project analyzes both the
impacts of the expanding biofuels sector on water demand in selected regions of the
United States and variations in the profitability of ethanol production due to location
differences. Changes in consumptive water use in the Texas High Plains, Southern
Minnesota, and the Central Valley of California, as impacted by current and proposed
grain-based ethanol plants were addressed. In addition, this research assesses the
potential impacts of technologies to reduce consumptive water use in the production of
ethanol in terms of water usage and the economic viability of each ethanol facility. This
research quantifies the role of corn ethanol production on water resource availability and
identifies the alternative water pricing schemes at which ethanol production is no longer
profitable.
The results of this research show that the expansion of regional ethanol
production and the resulting changes in the regional agricultural landscapes do relatively
little to change consumptive water usage in each location. The California Central Valley has the highest potential for increased water usage with annual water usage in 2017 at
levels 15% higher than historical estimates, whereas Southern Minnesota and the Texas
High Plains are predicted to have increases of less than 5% during the same time period.
Although water use by ethanol plants is extremely minor relative to consumptive
regional agricultural water usage, technological adaptations by ethanol facilities have the
potential to slightly reduce water usage and prove to be economically beneficial
adaptations to make. The sensitivity of net present value (NPV) with respect to changes
in water price is shown to be extremely inelastic, indicating that ethanol producers have
the ability to pay significantly more for their fresh water with little impact on their 10
year economic performance.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2009-05-592 |
| Date | 2009 May 1900 |
| Creators | Higgins, Lindsey M. |
| Contributors | Richardson, James W. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
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