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roosterk0031 · 10-10-2018, 02:23 PM

Study on Ethanol energy balance.

https://www.usda.gov/oce/reports/ene...ornEthanol.pdf

"There is a low-input-energy segment of the industry that does better than the industry average. The energy balance ratio is 4.0 for areas like Iowa and Minnesota that use the lowest corn"

That article doesn't address gasoline, but another one I found earlier said it took 1.23 btu of fossil fuels to get 1 btu of gasoline in the pump (0.81). I think the overall average for corn ethanol was 2.3 field to pump.

https://www.extension.iastate.edu/ag...HofJuly07.html

There's where the 1.23 number comes from. That article list corn ethanol at 1.36 but was done in 2007. Improvements have been made in the ethanol industry the top listed study is more recent.

"Conclusion

All the talk about ethanol being an inefficient energy converter is wrong. Moreover, the energy balance question is largely bogus. Whether you are concerned about weaning the U.S. from foreign oil, stopping global warming, or both, ethanol is better than gasoline and getting better every day."

10-10-2018, 02:23 PM	#6 (permalink)
roosterk0031 Master EcoModder Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: na Posts: 1,025 Thanks: 277 Thanked 218 Times in 185 Posts	Study on Ethanol energy balance. https://www.usda.gov/oce/reports/ene...ornEthanol.pdf "There is a low-input-energy segment of the industry that does better than the industry average. The energy balance ratio is 4.0 for areas like Iowa and Minnesota that use the lowest corn" That article doesn't address gasoline, but another one I found earlier said it took 1.23 btu of fossil fuels to get 1 btu of gasoline in the pump (0.81). I think the overall average for corn ethanol was 2.3 field to pump. https://www.extension.iastate.edu/ag...HofJuly07.html There's where the 1.23 number comes from. That article list corn ethanol at 1.36 but was done in 2007. Improvements have been made in the ethanol industry the top listed study is more recent. "Conclusion All the talk about ethanol being an inefficient energy converter is wrong. Moreover, the energy balance question is largely bogus. Whether you are concerned about weaning the U.S. from foreign oil, stopping global warming, or both, ethanol is better than gasoline and getting better every day." Last edited by roosterk0031; 10-10-2018 at 02:48 PM..