IRFA Statement on Iowa Sierra Club Report Over Carbon Capture Project Water Use

JOHNSTON, IA – Today, the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter released an erroneous report on water use by carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Executive Director Monte Shaw made the following statement:

“Today’s ‘so-called’ study from the Iowa Sierra Club is no more based in reality than the report they released a few weeks ago claiming that CCS does not lower the carbon intensity of Iowa ethanol production. There is simply no basis in fact for the numbers they are throwing around.

It appears they have exaggerated the potential water usage by at least a factor of four. To put it in context, one inch of rain across Chickasaw county alone equates to 8.8 billion gallons of water, roughly 10 times what is needed for all CCS projects across the state annually. According to Iowa State University, Chickasaw county averages roughly 2.7 inches of rain per month over the last 123 years.

The Iowa Sierra Club’s selective concern over water use is more proof of how unserious they have become. If they truly believe Iowa is in the middle of a water crisis, maybe they should start crunching the numbers on how much water it takes to keep an 18-hole golf course green in August. This is nothing more than another baseless attempt at scaring people.”

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association represents the state’s liquid renewable fuels industry and works to foster its growth. Iowa is the nation’s leader in renewable fuels production with 42 ethanol refineries capable of producing 4.7 billion gallons annually – including 34 million gallons of annual cellulosic ethanol production capacity – and 10 biodiesel facilities with the capacity to produce 416 million gallons annually. For more information, visit the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association website at: www.IowaRFA.org.

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