 |
Wendell
Shauman, an Illinois corn grower and member of the NCGA Research
and Business Development Action Team, looks at technical posters
Tuesday at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference
in Indianapolis. |
USDA
Economist to CUTC Attendees: Net Energy Value of Ethanol Continues
to Increase (6-9-04)
Preliminary findings of a new study on the net
energy balance of ethanol indicate ethanol produces 67 percent more
energy than it takes to generate. The study, “The 2001 Net
Energy Balance of Corn-Ethanol,” was presented Tuesday at
the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference (CUTC) by Hosein
Shapouri, a U.S. Department of Agriculture economist.
The conference, co-sponsored by the National Corn
Growers Association (NCGA) and Corn Refiners Association (CRA),
concludes today.
Shapouri said his research proves ethanol undoubtedly
has a positive energy balance, even before subtracting the energy
allocated to coproducts. In a 1996 study, Shapouri calculated the
net energy balance of ethanol at 36 percent, up from 24 percent
in 1991. Technological advances in crop production and the ethanol
plant have helped to reduce the amount of energy required to produce
ethanol, he said.
“Corn yields per acre have increased, fertilizer is more energy
efficient and ethanol plants are more efficient,” Shapouri
said. “So the net energy value of corn-ethanol improves.”
According to Shapouri’s research, the wet-milling process
produces a net energy value of 57 percent, while dry-milled ethanol
produces 77 percent more energy than it takes to produce.
Shapouri’s research discredits the work of Dr. David Pimentel,
who in 2003 mistakenly concluded that ethanol takes more energy
to produce than it generates. “This (research), unlike the
Dr. Pimentel report in 2003, is based on straightforward methodology
and highly regarded quality data,” Shapouri said. Numerous
economists have questioned the validity of Pimentel’s findings,
arguing that he uses outdated data in his methodology.
Shapouri said one objective of the study was to improve the quality
of data and estimation methodology used in past studies. For the
newest study, USDA exhaustively surveyed corn farmers and ethanol
plants and used new process simulation programs to allocate energy.
“Our data is crystal clear,” Shapouri said. “We
used a USDA corn survey and we also used a survey of ethanol plants,
so you can see the data from the first step of the process all the
way until ethanol goes into the tank of your car.”
And as technology continues to improve, so will the energy value
of ethanol, Shapouri says. Higher yields, more energy efficient
inputs and improved technologies in ethanol plants will drive the
energy balance of ethanol even higher, he said.
“We believe the net energy balance is going to increase because
of technology in corn production and technology in ethanol,”
he said. “The research proves this.”
NCGA leaders said this year's CUTC was a great success, drawing
more than 500 attendees from 25 countries.