Thank you Ron for your reply. I read a news article at one of your links that has been mentioned here before about US Corn-Ethanol averaging 67% net energy according to a recent US gov't report upping it from 34% previously or was it 36%. Additional information is welcomed.
Net Energy Value of Ethanol Increases, Says USDA Jun 10, 2004 Newswire, National Corn Growers Association http://www.cornandsoybeandigest.com/news/EthanolValue/ Preliminary findings of a new study on the net energy balance of ethanol indicate ethanol produces 67% more energy than it takes to generate. The study, "The 2001 Net Energy Balance of Corn-Ethanol," was presented at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference (CUTC) by Hosein Shapouri, a USDA economist. 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%, up from 24% 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 Shapouriās research, the wet-milling process produces a net energy value of 57%, while dry-milled ethanol produces 77% more energy than it takes to produce. Shapouriās 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 Numerous economists have questioned the validity of Pimentelās findings, arguing that he uses outdated data in his methodology.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." http://www.cornandsoybeandigest.com/news/EthanolValue/ RESULTS All energy inputs used in the production of ethanol is adjusted for energy efficiencies developed by GREET model. The estimated energy efficiencies are for gasoline (80.5 percent), diesel fuel (84.3 percent), LPG (98.9 percent), natural gas (94 percent), coal (98 percent), electricity (39.6 percent), and transmission loss (1.087 percent). After adjusting the energy inputs by these energy efficiencies, the total estimated energy required to produce a bushel of corn in 2001 was 49,753 Btu. Table 3 summarizes the input energy requirements, by phase of ethanol production on a Btu per gallon basis (LHV) for 2001, without byproduct credits. Energy estimates are provided for both dry- and wet-milling as well as industry average. In each case, corn ethanol has a positive energy balance, even before subtracting the energy allocated to byproducts. Table 4 presents the final net energy balance of corn ethanol adjusted for byproducts. The net energy balance estimate for corn ethanol produced from wet-milling is 27,729 Btu per gallon, the net energy balance estimate for dry-milling is 33,196 Btu per gallon, and the weighted average is 30,528 Btu per gallon. The energy ratio is 1.57 and 1.77 for wet- and dry-milling, respectively, and the weighted average energy ratio is 1.67. 21Kb, 6 page PDF http://www.bioproducts-bioenergy.gov/pdfs/net%20energy%20balance.pdf National Corn Growers Association NCGA Responds to Exxon Chair's Misconceptions on Net Energy Balance of Ethanol http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-11-2004/0002191653&EDATE= > > I find it interesting that a number of states such as Minnesota, > > Iowa, Wisconsin, North & South Dakota, California, Nebraska to > > name few around the USA have introduced alternative biofuel > > such as ethanol into not only the government transportation mix > > but also to the public which may have had something to do with > > public opinion or was there some other reasons for it. > ======================================== > Hello MH, > > Below is a link that shows maize (corn) production in tabular and graphic > form (both worldwide and by state). The information shows how the states > you mention, are leaders in corn production. I believe Wisconsin is a more > recent entry in the push for ethanol in comparison to Minnesota, Iowa, > Illinois, and Nebraska. Eastern South Dakota is a major corn production > area and a large plant was recently constructed at Aurora (100 miilion > gallons per year). Railroad trainloads of ethanol are shipped eastward to > the Hudson River in the state of New York and then barged downriver to the > New York City area markets. Nebraska is a leader by using water > irrigation. > > There is also a table showing the top Wisconsin County corn producers. > > Government involvement has helped this push. For example, Minnesota allows > tax breaks (incentives, whatever) for farmer invested ethanol plants. > Large corporate investors need not apply. One half of all ethanol > production in the USA is from farmer owned co-ops. > > Here's the link: > http://corn.agronomy.wisc.edu/FISC/Corn/Corn.htm > > Here is a link showing an inventory of ethanol plants in the USA: > http://www.ethanol.org/productionlist.htm > > Here is the home page link that talks about ethanol production. They > mention other crops, but with corn production as an established, mature > crop (machinery, storage facilities, transportation options, etc)...it was > easy to introduce corn into the cycle: > http://www.ethanol.org/ > > Ron B. _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
