The Relationship of Water to Energy

On Friday, I spent the day with about 50 farmland owners in Indiana. Combined, they farm or manage tens of thousands of acres. Most of the day was devoted to the nuts and bolts of wind turbines, which we'll return to later in the semester when we think about solutions. We visited what will soon be the largest wind farm east of the Mississippi. We also had two of the scientists from Purdue talk to us about their work with growing plants for ethanol. What struck me most, though, was the question directed to the audience -- why should farmers and farmland owners in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan be particularly interested in biofuels? And the hint: how many pounds of water does it take to grow one pound of plant material for biofuel? And how much fuel will that produce?