From Kiplinger:
Don't be surprised if the most precious liquid on earth turns out to be Water. As US ethanol production ramps up water - or lack of it - is foiling some plans to supplement oil with fuel from Alcohol.
The Lincoln-Pipestone Rural Water System in Minnesota "has been approached on two or more occasions and "we just didn't have the water capacity" says systems CEO Dennis Healy. Most water in ethanol is recycled, but the typical plant still needs 100 million gallons per year.
But the nascent ethanol industry won't whither either. Iowa, the leading ethanol state, gets plenty of rain. Also, drought-tolerant prairie grasses will slowly become more efficient feed sources for ethanol than super-thirsty corn. But hydrologist Tim Cowdery, of the US geological Survey, "over the next 50 to 75 years, water wars are going to make the current oil concerns seem like paradise"
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