This document discusses the challenges of balancing increasing global demands for energy, food, and water with sustainable land and water resource management. It notes that biofuel production competes with food crops for agricultural resources in a world experiencing greater climate variability and more frequent extreme weather events. Soil and water quality are already degraded in many regions from unsustainable agricultural practices. Expanding biofuel feedstock production poses risks and must be carefully planned to avoid further environmental damage while meeting rising energy needs. Strategies are needed to conserve soil and water resources and ensure stable food production amid a changing climate.

1. The BIG Picture – How Do Biofuels
Fit In?
Rick Cruse
Iowa State University

4. Future Bioeconomy and Its
Impacts on Water (and soil) Resources
 Do we have the scientific knowledge to identify
acceptable feedstock management?
 Can we balance energy needs, financial
interests, and water/soil conservation in the
bioenergy industry?

6. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
Report
 During the next 50 years, demand for food crops is
projected to grow by 70–85% under the MA
scenarios, and demand for water by between 30% and
85%.

7. Working Lands
Our agricultural lands must work.

8. Current Working Lands & Water Quality
Current working agricultural lands sacrifice water quality.

9. Current Working Land and Soil Erosion
2007
Cox, Craig, Andrew Hug, and Nils Bruzelius. 2011. Losing Ground. Environmental Working Group. Available at:
http://static.ewg.org/reports/2010/losingground/pdf/losingground_report.pdf

10. Oki, Taikan and Shinjiro Kanae. 2006. Global hydrological cycles and world water
resources. Science. 313:1068-1072
Published by AAAS

11. Irrigation
 ~ 40% of world food comes from 18% of world’s
cropland1
 India 3/5 of grain harvest
 China 4/5 of grain harvest
1W Danielle Nierenberg, Linda Starke and Erik Assadourian. 2007
State of the World – 2006. World Watch Institute.

12. Countries over-pumping aquifers in
2005 and population (million)
China India Iran Isreal Jordan Mexico Moracco Pakistan
1,316 1,103 70 7 6 107 31 158
S. Arabia S. Korea Spain Syria Tunesia U.S Yemen Total
25 48 43 19 10 291 21 3,262
Brown, Lester (Lead Author);Brian Black, Galal Hassan Galal Hussein (Topic Editor) "Aquifer depletion".
In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information
Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of
Earth January 23, 2010; Last revised Date March 22, 2011; Retrieved March 13, 2012
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Aquifer_depletion

15. Precipitation minus Evaporation for Western US
(25N-40N, 95W-125 W)
R. Seager, et al. 2007. Model Projections of an Imminent Transition to a More
Arid Climate in Southwestern North America. Science, Vol. 316. no. 5828, pp.
1181 - 1184

16. Land Resources

17. Globally, 25% of agricultural land is considered highly
degraded such that livelihoods have been
compromised, production capacity has been seriously
diminished, and opportunities to renovate are limited or
nonexistent.
FAO. 2011. State of the world’s land and water resources for food and
agriculture. Summary Report. Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations. Rome

18. U.S. Agricultural Land Conversion

19. Six million acres eroded at 20 – 100 times
the soil renewal rate in 2007.
Cox, Craig, Andrew Hug, and Nils Bruzelius. 2011. Losing Ground. Environmental Working Group. Available at:
http://static.ewg.org/reports/2010/losingground/pdf/losingground_report.pdf

20. “One of the clearest trends
in the United States
observational record is an
increasing frequency and
intensity of heavy
precipitation events…
Over the last century there
was a 50% increase in the
frequency of days with
precipitation over 101.6
mm (four inches) in the
upper midwestern U.S.;
this trend is statistically
significant “
Karl, T. R., J. M. Melillo, and T. C. Peterson, (eds.), 2009: Global
Climate Change Impacts in the United States. Cambridge
University Press, 2009, 196pp.

21. Cedar Rapids Data

22. Cedar Rapids Data
1.25
inches
4.2 days 6.6 days
57% increase

23. Cedar Rapids Data
1.25
inches
Years having more 13
than 8 days
2
4.2 days 6.6 days
57% increase

24. Big Picture
 Demand for Energy increasing
 Demand for food and water increasing
 Biofuels must compete with food production for land
and water resources in a world with
 Greater climate variability
 Production impacts
 Water and soil impacts
 Soil and water degradation problems
 Political environment less stable than climate