Water Consumption for Ethanol and Petroleum Gasoline Production

A recent study on the consumption of water in the production of ethanol and gasoline shows that there is variability by region, feedstock, soil and climate condition, and production technology for ethanol. There is also much variability in water use in the production of gasoline due to the age of oil well, recovery technology, and extent of produced-water re-injection and steam recycling. This table shows ranges for the amount of water consumed (net) for five different fuels/feedstocks.