Part 1: Does Ethanol Cost More Energy to Produce than to Use?

Does ethanol cost more energy to produce than to use?

Since the ethanol industry has been the first industry to prominently challenge the oil industry in the U.S. over the fuel market in almost a century a lot of criticism has been thrown towards ethanol.  Ethanol costing more energy to produce than to use has been one of the most common attacks against the ethanol industry.  This statement is not true and this three part series of blog articles looks to show you the origins and motivations behind this idea, debunking the data and discovering the flaws of the research behind ethanol costing more energy to produce than to use,  and eventually to show that ethanol can produce more energy than is used to produce it.

The biggest contributor towards the “ethanol produces a loss in energy” fallacy was written by University of Cornell Professor of Entomology David Pimentel and University of California, Berkley, Professor Tad Patzek in 2001.  Pimentel’s research is frequently used by supporters of the oil industry to try and bring down the credibility of ethanol as a source for fuel.  Furthermore their claims don’t stack up to the research that has been done by other scientists.

The only other studies that show ethanol costing more energy to produce than to use are all done in the 1980′s and early 1990′s.  It is possible that ethanol may have cost more energy to produce during those times but technology has improved since then even by the time Pimentel’s study had gone underway.  A year after Pimentel’s study was released the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that ethanol gives 34% more energy than it takes to produce it.  Below is a graph showing how Pimentel’s results aren’t matching up with current ethanol studies.

Pimentel’s study features a number of disputed claims and other problems in regards to how the experiments were performed and what they did and didn’t factor in.  These problems/disputed claims are:

• Ethanol production yields a 29% loss in energy when produced from corn
• Between 45% to 57% more energy would be lost in producing ethanol from wood or switchgrass
• Pimentel’s study uses outdated information and data
• Pimentel’s study uses data incorrectly
• Pimentel’s study omits crucial data that could help determine ethanol’s energy production

Further hurting the Pimentel and Patzek study is Patzek’s connections with the oil industry.  At the University of California Patzek is the director of the schools oil consortium which is financially backed by Chevron and Phillips.  He also worked at Shell for over decade as a research consultant and expert witness.  These ties to oil indicate a bias in their study towards the oil industry, which has been working to remove ethanol from the fuel market, securing it exclusively for themselves.

Part 2 in this series will be focused on debunking Pimentel’s results and showing how some of the data collected from Pimentel’s research was old or outdated.

Sources:

Pimentel/Patzek Article Oil Ties and Arguments  http://www.biofuelsjournal.com/articles/ethanol_industry_refutes_david_pimentel_s_study_showing_negative_energy_balance_for_ethanol-27165.html

2002 U.S. Department of Agriculture Study http://journeytoforever.org/ethanol_energy.html

Pimentel Claims: http://www.freelists.org/post/biofuels-forum/Key-Differences-between-PimentelPatzek-Study-and-Other-Studies,1

http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/PimentelComments4_5_05.pdf

National Renewable Energy Laboratory See Section 7.1 Net Energy Balance http://www.nrel.gov/analysis/pdfs/doe-02-5025.pdf

USDA Switchgrass yields http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=grass-makes-better-ethanol-than-corn

U.S. Ethanol Distiller Grains http://growthenergy.org/images/reports/ethanol_livestock.pdf

Dry Mill Ethanol Efficiency Gains http://www.ethanolrfa.org/exchange/entry/from-farm-to-biorefinery-ethanol-production-efficiency-improves/

Dry Mill Ethanol Efficiency (Thermal Energy) http://www.ethanolrfa.org/news/entry/dry-mill-ethanol-production-shows-significant-improvements-in-efficien/

2.1.1.1 DGS in the U.S. http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/AF/527.pdf

Switchgrass Has Great Alternative Energy Potential

Switchgrass is a type of wild prairie grass that grows abundantly in the United States.  It’s so abundant that the only four U.S. states you can’t find switchgrass are California, Oregon, Alaska, and Washington.  At the turn of the 20th century an increased number of scientific studies have found that switchgrass could be used  to make biofuels, biogas, and cellulosic ethanol.  These alternative fuels can be made cheaper and more energy efficient.  As more research continues to improve the energy output of switchgrass, and because its very durable and abundant, switchgrass makes a strong economical choice for an alternative fuel.

Economically speaking switchgrass is a highly adaptable strong crop that’s already abundant.  Switchgrass has great longevity, it can resist floods and droughts,  it can grow in poor soil (sand and gravel based soils have supported switch grass), and it can grow in versatile climates (see the map above).  Furthermore it requires a small amount of herbicide and fertilizer which decreases the cost to grow it as a crop.  Switchgrass is also non-edible so producing it and worrying about whether or not the crop should be used as fuel or food is no longer a part of the debate.

Switchgrass doesn’t require a lot of water to grow it either.  Mariano Martin, a doctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon found that switch grass uses less than a gallon of water to produce a gallon of fuel that is made from switchgrass.  Oil by comparison used 1.5-2.5 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of oil based fuel.

Switchgrass is energy efficient too.  The USDA along with mid-western farmers experiment on growing switchgrass as a crop.  Crops were grown on fields between 7 and 23 acres in size and produced between 5 and 11 metric tons of grass bales.  Furthermore 13.1 megajoules of energy were produced for every megajoule of oil based energy consumed, when the switchgrass was converted to ethanol.  That’s 540% more energy produced by switchgrass than what is needed to produce it.

New research focused on increasing energy outputs of switchgrass are also being conducted.  The Department of Energy recently inserted a gene called Corngrass1 (CG1), which is used in corn, into the genetic makeup of switchgrass.  The gene keeps switchgrass in a juvenile state, making it easier to breakdown.  The genetically modified switchgrass yields more than 250% more starch, and it also makes it easier to extract polysaccharides and convert them into fermentable sugars.

As the technology for converting switchgrass into fuel advances; production of alternative based fuel increases.  As I mentioned in a previous article about cellulosic ethanol there are, as of Spring 2011, 38 cellulosic ethanol plants that have been constructed or are under construction in the U.S. and Canada.  9 of these plants plan on producing ethanol by using switchgrass as a feedstock.

Moving towards a brighter future, switchgrass promises be a great new source for producing alternative energy and fuel.

Sources:

Location of Switchgrass in North America: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PAVI2

USDA and Midwest Farmer Experiment: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=grass-makes-better-ethanol-than-corn

Corngrass1 Research http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111118151414.htm

Carnegie Mellon Research http://www.thebioenergysite.com/news/10009/fuels-from-grass-researchers-explore-alternatives

Ethanol Produces Less GHG Emissions Than Oil

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is important  because it helps to keep our atmosphere clean and helps to prevent climate change.   Since the Industrial Revolution carbon dioxide emissions, the largest human contribution to the increase of greenhouse gases has skyrocketed.  One of the ways greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced is by using ethanol as a fuel.  Here is some background on greenhouse gases.

What are greenhouse gas emissions?

Greenhouse gases refer to a number of different elements that can absorb infrared radiation.  In our atmosphere the most abundant of these elements are water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, nitrous oxide, and methane.  Greenhouse gases effect the temperature of the Earth, without them we would not survive, but they can also make a planet uninhabitable.

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, but it is not the hottest planet in the solar system.  The average temperature on Mercury is 167 degrees Celsius (by comparison the average temperature on Earth is  7 degrees Celsius), but Venus is hotter with an average temperature of 460 degrees Celsius.  The reason why Venus has a higher average temperature is because Venus has the most greenhouse gas of any planet in our solar system.  These greenhouse gases trap the suns rays heating the surface of the  planet, turning it into a furnace.

Fuel and oil are some of the largest contributors to GHG emissions.  Using ethanol in place of oil based fuel has been shown to reduce GHG emissions.

Yale University’s Journal of Industrial Ecology found that  ethanol has 59%  fewer GHG emissions in the Life Cycle Analysis compared to oil based gasoline.

Argonne National Laboratory documented ethanol reduced GHG emissions in 2007 by ten tons.  Argonne also predicted a bright future for ethanol stating that switch grass could reduce emissions by 94% and that stover and wood crops could reduce emissions by 100%.

Another large contributor to GHG emissions has been industry processes.  Ethanol and oil both fit into this category.  Compared to oil though ethanol has reduced production emissions by 59% by switching from coal fired plants to natural gas and alternative energy powered plants.

As we move further into the 21st century new technology and alternative energy sources will be needed.  Ethanol is one of the few economically viable alternatives to oil based energy today which is why it is important that myths around it creating more GHG than oil be debunked.

Sources:

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/mercuryfact.html

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/venusfact.html

http://icsusa.org/pages/icsusa-articles/november-2010.php

www.growthenergy.org

6 Benefits E15 Can Bring To Fuel

E15, gasoline blended with 15% ethanol, was approved to be sold in the U.S. by the EPA in early 2010.  Currently most fuel stations across the country use E10 a fuel blend that has only 10% ethanol, but the move to E15 could provide U.S. fuel consumers with many benefits.  Here are the top 6 benefits to Americans by switching to E15.

1. Stimulates the American economy – By switching to E15 additional ethanol will need to be created to in order to supply the demand which will create more jobs.  It estimated by only increasing ethanol blends in fuel by 5% over 136,000 new jobs will be created.
2. Reduces dependence on foreign oil – The use of ethanol reduces America’s dependence on foreign oil.  In 2010 E10 reduced American oil imports to the amount of 445 million barrels.  E15 will require 7 billion less gallons of oil to produce gasoline.
3. 67% of current vehicles can use E15 – Passenger cars built after 2001 are cleared to use this fuel, and as more new cars enter the market they will also be able to take advantage of using E15.  For those that can’t use E15 clear warning labels are going to be presented at gas stations.
4. Encourages the creation of vehicles that can handle higher ethanol blends – More ethanol needed to fuel cars will require auto makers to invest in making vehicles that can run using different types of fuel.  This could create healthy competition in the market place for fuel and give American’s a choice in what they fill their vehicles up with, rather than having only one practical choice, oil.
5. Encourages more research into cellulosic ethanol – Research in cellulosic ethanol was stalled until the EPA allowed E15 to be used.  This occurred because ethanol supply had met ethanol demand and a new source for ethanol would not be needed.  Why is cellulosic ethanol research important?  Cellulosic ethanol would allow energy to be created out of non edible parts of plants.  In short it’s energy (ethanol) that would be created from woodchips, corn stalks, switchgrass, etc. which means it’s essentially turning bio-waste into fuel.
6. Grain ethanol has 59% fewer green house gas emissions than conventional gasoline – In the life cycle analysis research published in Yale University’s Journal of Industrial Ecology discovered grain ethanol had 59% fewer green house gas admissions than conventional gasoline.

Source:

http://www.growthenergy.org/

Ethanol’s First Rise and Fall

Around the world the amount of ethanol production has increased significantly over the past decade, especially in the United States where the gasoline supply in the U.S. went from 1% ethanol in 2000 to 10% ethanol in 2010.  Ethanol’s most widespread use is in fuel and ethanol fuel’s most widespread use is in gasoline.  At least  10% of gasoline mixtures in the U.S. contain ethanol with the U.S. moving toward having 15% blends with the EPA’s approval of E15 blended gasoline in 2010.  It would seem as if we were moving towards the future by switching towards the use of ethanol, ironically as it turns out we are moving closer to the past.

In 1908 Henry Ford began producing the Model T, the first affordable automobile in the United States.  Henry Ford didn’t fuel his mass produced car with oil based gasoline, he fueled it with corn based ethanol.  For the next 10 years ethanol was the primary source of fuel for automobiles in the United States, Ford’s Model T could run off of oil based gasoline, but Ford personally endorsed the use of ethanol as fuel for his car.

Around the same time Ford’s Model T was taking off the movement to make alcohol illegal was rapidly gaining support.  Major prohibition supporters WCTU and Anti-Saloon League’s memberships were peaking and many states were now banning alcohol individually.  The Anti-Saloon League reportedly received over $500,000 from Standard Oil’s John D. Rockefeller to help spearhead this movement, which they did.  Prohibition was passed in 1919 and went into law in early 1920.

Prohibition not only made it illegal for people to purchase alcoholic beverages but it made it illegal to purchase any kind of alcohol, which ultimately included ethanol.  During the prohibition years 1920-1933 ethanol as a fuel for cars was replaced by fuel made from oil.  By the time prohibition was finally repealed oil based fuel had replaced ethanol based fuel, setting us up for the fuel economy we have today.

Source on Rockefeller donations: http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/05/17/specials/rockefeller-gifts.html