May Wu, Marianne Mintz, Michael Wang, and Salil Arora

Center for Transportation Research, Argonne National Laboratory

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The production of energy feedstocks and fuels requires substantial water input. Not only

do biofuel feedstocks like corn, switchgrass, and agricultural residues need water for growth and

conversion to ethanol, but petroleum feedstocks like crude oil and oil sands also require large

volumes of water for drilling, extraction, and conversion into petroleum products. Moreover, in

many cases, crude oil production is increasingly water dependent. Competing uses strain

available water resources and raise the specter of resource depletion and environmental

degradation. Water management has become a key feature of existing projects and a potential

issue in new ones.