University
Study Re-Confirms Ethanol’s Positive Energy Balance, NCGA
Notes (4-14-04)
Ethanol provides 30 to
40 percent more energy than it takes to produce, according to a
recent University of Nebraska study on the fuel’s
net energy balance. The study, conducted by scientist Dan Walters,
confirms earlier U.S. Department of Agriculture research that shows
ethanol has a positive net energy balance.
Walters said popular media
reports often cite studies that show ethanol production uses more
energy than it produces. But those studies
are decades old and don’t take into consideration changes in
agriculture and the ethanol production process, Walters said.
The Nebraska study’s
methodology assesses the amount of fossil fuel required to grow,
transport and convert corn into ethanol. The
amount of energy required to blend ethanol with gasoline and transport
it to the pump is also considered.
Technological advances
in ethanol conversion and plant efficiency are responsible in part
for the positive net energy balance, Walters
said, pointing to the fact that a bushel of corn now produces at
least 2.7 gallons of ethanol, where as a bushel only produced 2.5
gallons in 1990. Ethanol co-products also factor into the equation
because additional energy would be needed to make these products
if they weren’t being made during the ethanol conversion process.
Crop production is also more efficient now than in the past, according
to the study. Farm equipment, seed genetics, irrigation practices,
crop management and nitrogen efficiency have all improved dramatically
during the past 20 years. According to the research, the energy balance
will continue to improve as farming and ethanol production practices
become more efficient.