The study was conducted by the CGIAR-supported International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Sri Lanka.

In many areas where water is already scarce, biofuel production could threaten river and groundwater systems.

Charlotte de Fraiture, an IWMI scientist and lead author of the biofuels study says, “Biofuel production in China and India raises special concerns, because the crops to be used for biofuels—maize in China and sugarcane in India—would rely mainly on irrigation.