Improvements in production make ethanol viable fuel

Lincoln Journal Star:
by Dan Walters, professor of soil science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln -- Sept 7, 2005
"So why is the energy balance in the Pimentel and Patzek study so different than the others? The difference lies in the baseline data used to construct the energy balance. Much of the key information used in their study is decades old and does not reflect today's improvements in energy-use efficiency and ethanol conversion technologies.
Significant changes over the past several decades in the efficiencies of corn production and ethanol conversion affect the overall energy balance of corn ethanol.
For example, nitrogen fertilizer is the biggest part of the farm energy budget and accounts for 30 percent to 50 percent of all the energy consumed in the production of corn. Yet the efficiency of nitrogen use by the crop has increased by 33 percent since 1980 and has lowered the on-farm energy input for corn production.
Today's modern ethanol plant includes myriad technological improvements that have resulted in a nearly 30 percent increase energy efficiency in the processing of corn grain to ethanol since 1990. The conversion rate of grain to ethanol at the plant has also increased from 2.5 gallons per bushel of grain in 1990 to better than 2.75 gallons per bushel today. With the introduction of new corn hybrids, the conversion rate is projected to increase to 3 gallons per bushel in the very near future."