Biodiesel has taken a bit of a hit from a study recently published in Environmental Science & Technology magazine. The study looks at the amount of water required to produce enough corn to create sufficient ethanol to propel a diesel vehicle one mile. The result was an average of 50 gallons of water per mile.

The study accounted for not only the water necessary for growing the corn but also the water resources that would be impacted by the agriculture or, as the study calls it, the water footprint.

The National Biodiesel Board responded to the study stating that biodiesel production methods differ and crops are not farmed solely for the use of biodiesel and that in 2008 the entire U.S. biodiesel industry used less water in processing biofuel than was used in the irrigation of two Sun Belt golf courses.

Minnesota school buses have apparently been stalling and the blame was falling on the biodiesel that was mixed in with the regular diesel. This wasn’t the cause though according to the National Biodiesel Board’s recent statement.

An independent study looked into the issue and found that it was just a diesel related issue in general. Diesel engines can have problems in extreme cold and apparently temperatures below minus 20 were the real culprit.

Minnesota currently has a goal that by 2015 all of it’s diesel vehicles will run on a mixture of 20% biodiesel.