U.S. analysis supports benefits of ethanol as green fuel

WASHINGTON, DC, US, February 8, 2006 (Refocus Weekly)

Ethanol yields more energy than it takes to produce, according to a synthesis of conflicting reports on the energy balance of ethanol made from corn.

Daniel Kammen of the Energy & Resources Group at the University of California - Berkeley and associates from the Goldman School of Public Policy published the study in the journal ‘Science,’ noting that production and use of ethanol reduces GHG emissions by 15% compared to oil and gasoline use.

“While this report is not news to those who are familiar with the ethanol industry, it is significant in that it provides a comprehensive review of all the ethanol energy studies out there and concludes that ethanol is a net energy positive,” says Bob Dinneen of the Renewable Fuels Association. “Detractors of the ethanol industry have received too much media attention for their questionable findings with respect to ethanol’s energy balance. This study will help put their unfounded arguments to rest.”

“A 15% reduction in GHG emissions is significant and puts ethanol at the forefront in the effort to address global warming,” he adds. “No other liquid fuel in widespread use today can make that claim.”

“Studies that reported negative net energy incorrectly ignored coproducts and used some obsolete data,” the study concludes after evaluating six representative analyses of fuel ethanol. “All studies indicated that current corn ethanol technologies are much less petroleum-intensive than gasoline but have GHG emissions similar to those of gasoline.”

“Many important environmental effects of biofuel production are poorly understood,” but further research into environmental metrics to measure specific resource inputs is needed. “Energy security and climate change imperatives require large-scale substitution of petroleum-based fuels, as well as improved vehicle efficiency.

Ethanol constitutes 99% of all biofuels in the United States, and 3.4 billion gallons of ethanol were blended into gasoline in 2004, representing 2% of all gasoline sold by volume and 1.3% of its energy content. Greater quantities of ethanol are expected to be used as a motor fuel in the future because of the federal tax credit for ethanol and a new mandate for 7.5 billion gallons of green fuels to be added to gasoline by 2012.

“The energy and environmental implications of ethanol production are more important
than ever,” it adds. “Two of the studies stand out from the others because they report negative net energy values and imply relatively high GHG emissions and petroleum inputs,” but the report says those two studies incorrectly assumed that ethanol coproducts should not be credited with any of the input energy.

“Sensitivity analyses show that net energy calculations are most sensitive to assumptions about coproduct allocation,” and ethanol coproducts have positive economic value and displace competing products that require energy to make. “Therefore, increases in corn ethanol production to meet the requirements of EPACT 2005 will lead to more coproducts that displace whole corn and soybean meal in animal feed, and the energy thereby saved will partly offset the energy required for ethanol production.”

Argonne National Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, recently estimated that a 10% blend of ethanol would reduce emissions by 19%. The study also concludes that new technology to convert corn stalks, switchgrass and other woody cellulosic material, holds even more potential.

“There isn’t an ethanol producer in the country that isn’t actively pursuing a cellulose-to-ethanol research program,” said Dinneen. “While corn will continue to be the major feedstock for U.S. ethanol production, the development of cellulosic ethanol technology offers a promising compliment and a new era for the U.S. ethanol industry.”

Currently, 95 ethanol plants have a combined production capacity of more than 4.3 billion gallons a year. There are 31 ethanol plants and nine expansions under construction with a combined annual capacity of more than 1.5 billion gallons.


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