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- Title
The Economics of Ethanol.
- Authors
Potera, Carol
- Abstract
The conversion of corn into ethanol to produce gasohol is advertised by some scientists as an economical and environmentally cleaner alternative to fossil fuels. However, ethanol production is neither economical nor environmentally sound, concludes David Pimentel, a professor of insect ecology and agricultural science at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. According to a study by Pimentel, 1.7 times more energy is required to grow and process corn and then distill the ethanol than is obtained from burning it. In contrast, 'Estimating the Net Energy Balance of Corn Ethanol: An Economic Research Service Report,' a 1995 report by Hosein Shapouri, James A. Duffield and Michael S. Graboski of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, claims that the net energy content of ethanol runs 1.2 times more than the fossil energy needed to produce it. Experts agree that differences in cornyields, credit for the energy content of nonethanol by-productssuch as distillers and grains, varied technologies used at different processing plants, and the regional costs of machinery, fertilizer, irrigation, and transportation contribute to the discrepancy between the two studies' findings.
- Subjects
GASOHOL; ALCOHOL as fuel; BIOMASS energy; FOSSIL fuels
- Publication
Environmental Health Perspectives, 2002, Vol 110, Issue 1, pA18
- ISSN
0091-6765
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1289/ehp.110-a18a