• Around 10% of the total energy supply comes from biomass, and most of that (80%) comes from the ‘traditional’ biomass sources of wood, dung and crop residues.
• Globally, irrigation water allocated to biofuel production is estimated at 44 km3, or 2% of all irrigation water. Under current production conditions it takes an average of roughly 2,500 litres of water (about 820 litres of it irrigation water) to produce 1 litre of liquid biofuel (the same amount needed on average to produce food for one person for one day).
• The share of irrigation water used for biofuel production is negligible in Brazil and the European Union and is estimated to be 2% in China and 3% in the United States.
• Implementing all current national biofuel policies and plans would take 30 million hectares of cropland and 180 km3 of additional irrigation water.

The section “Did You Know…?” is taken from the 3rd World Water Development Report “Water in a Changing World“.

Source: http://www.unesco.org/