Prosthetic Conscience

Energy balance of corn ethanol

A recent study from Argonne National Lab shows that production of ethanol from corn now has a positive energy balance. “Cellulosic ethanol with biomass feedstocks from fast-growing trees and switchgrass” can be even more efficient.

Interpretation from Smirking Chimp reader superyumancrew:

Ethanol from Corn: 1.00 million BTU (produced)- 0.74 million BTU (consumed)=0.26 million BTU net energy, or 26% net energy.

Gasoline from Petroleum: 1.23 million BTU (total petroleum energy) -0.23 million BTU (consumed in production) = 1.00 million BTU net energy, or 81% net energy.

Still not as efficient as gasoline, but the energy cost of ethanol production continues to go down, and the energy cost of petrol extraction keeps going up. I would suppose both hemp and kudzu would be very good sources of cellulosic ethanol, though there’s always slash pine.

Other related links: DOE Summary, Argonne Study. These are a bit more dense than the news report above.

[ Posted: 12:21] | [ Category: /sci-tech] | Permalink | Comments: 0 ]