Corn growers are raising crops that have more starch and thus produce more ethanol, and they are also getting better yields per acre, giving the fuel a much more positive energy balance than it once had, according to an Agriculture Department report released today.
"Corn ethanol supplies twice the amount of energy that is required to make it," Katherine Ling summarizes for Environment & Energy News. "For every British thermal unit (Btu) of energy required to make corn ethanol, 2.3 Btu is produced, the report says. The ratio is higher, it adds, if companies use biomass energy in ethanol production." (Read more, subscription required)
The report is based on surveys of corn growers in 2005 and ethanol production plants in fall 2008 and winter 2009. "Ethanol has made the transition from an energy sink, to a moderate net energy gain in the 1990s, to a substantial net energy gain in the present, USDA said in a press release. "And there are still prospects for improvement." For a PDF of the report, go here.
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