Is ethanol production energy efficient?
Ethanol contains about 32,000 (high heating value) BTUs per litre. It takes about one fourth of that amount to grow the corn and about one third of that amount to process the corn in a modern ethanol production facility. Some of the processing costs should be allocated to the co-products that are produced with the ethanol. If corn farmers use state-of-the-art, energy efficient and sustainable farming techniques and ethanol plants integrate state-of-the-art production processes, the amount of energy contained in the ethanol and its co-products is more than twice the energy used to grow the corn and convert it into ethanol. How will using ethanol-blended fuels affect my vehicle? What is the effect of using ethanol-blended fuels on the manufacturer’s warranty of my vehicle? When the use of ethanol began in 1979, most automobile manufacturers did not even address alcohol fuels. As soon as each manufacturer tested their vehicles, they approved the use of a 10% ethanol blend. Today, all manu
