The ambitious plans of India and China to ramp up biofuel production will deplete their water reserves and seriously impact their ability to meet food demands, a new study said on Thursday.
China and India, expected to account for nearly 70 percent of global oil demand between now and 2030, are using cheaper biofuels derived from crops to help power their economies, the International Water Management Institute said.
"But to grow biofuel crops you need to use more water and land," Charlotte de Fraiture, a scientist at the institute and lead author of the biofuels study, said.
India and China, which both have over one billion people, "suffer from water shortages which will only get worse as their food demand keeps pace with a growing population, their rising income and their diversifying diets."
The two Asian giants "are already struggling to find enough water to grow the food they need," the study by the Sri Lanka-based institute noted.
As global crude oil prices race past 80 dollars a barrel, countries are increasingly relying on biofuels, which produce energy by using organic waste, wood, dung and residues from crops like sugarcane and grains, the study said.
China plans to use maize while India wants to use sugarcane for biofuel production. Both crops rely heavily on irrigation, de Fraiture said. China aims to increase biofuel production four-fold from a 2002 level of 3.6 billion litres of bioethanol to around 15 billion litres by 2020, or nine percent of the country's projected gasoline demand.
India is pursuing a similarly aggressive strategy. To meet their biofuel targets, the study said, India needs to produce 16 percent more sugarcane and China 26 percent extra maize.
"Crop production for biofuels in China and India would likely jeopardize sustainable water use and thus affect irrigated production of food crops, including cereals and vegetables, which would then need to be imported in larger quantities," de Fraiture noted.
"Are these countries -- particularly India, which has devoted so much effort to achieving food security -- adequately considering the trade-offs involved, especially the prospect of importing food to free up sufficient water and land for production of biofuel crops?"
Water scarcity in India has prompted a controversial multibillion-dollar plan to redistribute water within the country to meet future needs.
China is implementing a costly transfer project to bring water from the water-abundant south to the water-short north leaving groundwater resources "extensively over-exploited".
In both countries, biofuels will add pressure on water resources that already are heavily exploited or over-exploited.
"China and India need a fresh approach, to re-look at the way they produce biofuels," de Fraiture said.
The report suggests authorities develop dryland rain-fed crops such as sweet sorghum for ethanol and species such as Jatropha and Pongamia for biodiesel. Such a strategy could help reduce competition for scarce water between the food, feed and fuel uses of crops like maize and sugarcane grown on irrigated land.
Via: India Economic Times
China and India, expected to account for nearly 70 percent of global oil demand between now and 2030, are using cheaper biofuels derived from crops to help power their economies, the International Water Management Institute said.
"But to grow biofuel crops you need to use more water and land," Charlotte de Fraiture, a scientist at the institute and lead author of the biofuels study, said.
India and China, which both have over one billion people, "suffer from water shortages which will only get worse as their food demand keeps pace with a growing population, their rising income and their diversifying diets."
The two Asian giants "are already struggling to find enough water to grow the food they need," the study by the Sri Lanka-based institute noted.
As global crude oil prices race past 80 dollars a barrel, countries are increasingly relying on biofuels, which produce energy by using organic waste, wood, dung and residues from crops like sugarcane and grains, the study said.
China plans to use maize while India wants to use sugarcane for biofuel production. Both crops rely heavily on irrigation, de Fraiture said. China aims to increase biofuel production four-fold from a 2002 level of 3.6 billion litres of bioethanol to around 15 billion litres by 2020, or nine percent of the country's projected gasoline demand.
India is pursuing a similarly aggressive strategy. To meet their biofuel targets, the study said, India needs to produce 16 percent more sugarcane and China 26 percent extra maize.
"Crop production for biofuels in China and India would likely jeopardize sustainable water use and thus affect irrigated production of food crops, including cereals and vegetables, which would then need to be imported in larger quantities," de Fraiture noted.
"Are these countries -- particularly India, which has devoted so much effort to achieving food security -- adequately considering the trade-offs involved, especially the prospect of importing food to free up sufficient water and land for production of biofuel crops?"
Water scarcity in India has prompted a controversial multibillion-dollar plan to redistribute water within the country to meet future needs.
China is implementing a costly transfer project to bring water from the water-abundant south to the water-short north leaving groundwater resources "extensively over-exploited".
In both countries, biofuels will add pressure on water resources that already are heavily exploited or over-exploited.
"China and India need a fresh approach, to re-look at the way they produce biofuels," de Fraiture said.
The report suggests authorities develop dryland rain-fed crops such as sweet sorghum for ethanol and species such as Jatropha and Pongamia for biodiesel. Such a strategy could help reduce competition for scarce water between the food, feed and fuel uses of crops like maize and sugarcane grown on irrigated land.
Via: India Economic Times
