Magazine

TETRA PAK Magazine
5
The fast-turning
waterwheels of
agriculture and industry
Agriculture is number one
Agriculture, which uses over two-thirds of all freshwater
withdrawals, occupies 14 out of the top 15 sectors of production
in terms of litres per unit of economic value generated.
Number 1 is cereal grain production, followed by cotton,
sugar, tree nuts, and fruit. In fact, the only industrial use in
the top 15 is energy production and distribution at number 7.
In other words, most of the water that humanity uses
goes to produce food, fibre, animal feed, and to some
extent fuel – through agriculture. It’s interesting, to discover
that producing a kilogram of beef requires thousands of
litres of freshwater and a cup of coffee or a soft drink well
over 100 litres.