June 28, 2010
USDA report shows energy benefits of ethanol
Published in Grand Island Independent
A new report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Energy Policy and New Uses "clearly demonstrates the overwhelmingly positive energy benefits of ethanol," said Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Bob Dinneen.
According to the USDA report, "A dry grind ethanol plant that produces and sells dry distiller's grains and uses conventional fossil fuel power for thermal energy and electricity produces nearly two times more energy in the form of ethanol delivered to customers than it uses for corn, processing, and transportation."
Depending on the method used for co-product energy allocation, RFA said the USDA has determined that 1 unit of fossil energy input used in the production of typical corn ethanol results in 1.9 to 2.3 units of energy output. Using up to 50 percent biomass for power, ethanol plants achieved a net energy ratio of 2.8, according to the report.
Further, according to the report, the new estimate of ethanol's positive "net energy ratio" is significantly higher than USDA's previous dry mill estimate of 1 unit of fossil energy resulting in 1.77 units of ethanol energy. If the most up-to-date dry mill energy efficiency data prepared by the University of Illinois-Chicago had been used for the USDA analysis, the average dry mill (producing dried and wet distillers grains) would produce a 2.1-2.6 net energy ratio, according to calculations performed by the Renewable Fuels Association.
"If previous ethanol energy analyses have been nails in the coffin of the stale and distorted 'negative energy balance' myth, this report serves as the final burial," Dinneen said.
He said as better and more current data become available, "There can be no doubt that ethanol offers tremendous energy benefits while greatly reducing consumption of crude oil."
"American ethanol producers continue to evolve, becoming more efficient and producing greater environmental benefit," Dinneen said. "This evolution stands in stark contrast to the worsening profile of oil production."
The analysis was based on USDA data on corn production for the year 2005 and a 2008 survey of dry mill ethanol plants conducted by the National Agricultural Marketing Association (NAMA).
