Improvements on Corn Ethanol

A study on the life cycle energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) was conducted on corn ethanol by Adam J. Liska, Haishun S. Yang, Virgil R. Bremer, Terry J. Klopfenstein, Daniel T. Walters, Galen E. Erickson, and Kenneth G. Cassman. The paper was published in 2008 so it it fairly recent. The paper analyzes corn ethanol life cycle energy efficiency, similar to an output/input ratio, and also the reduction of GHG by corn ethanol production.

In the paper, the researchers look at various data and models including crop production data, ethanol biorefinery data, coproduct cattle feed, and GHG emissions. The findings are that due to recent improvements in technology, corn ethanol production has increased in efficiency and reduces even more GHG emissions. In previous studies, people found that corn ethanol had an output/input ratio of about 1.2-1.4 but this study finds it to have increased to about 1.5-1.8 and could improve to 2.2 in the near future. They also found that corn ethanol reduced 48-58% more GHG compared to gasoline.

The paper is pro corn ethanol and believes a cap and trade system for GHG emissions will lower costs for corn ethanol and increase its popularity. A cap and trade system is when the government sets a max amount that a firm can pollute GHG emissions and lets firms have the rights to trade/sell their rights to pollute to other firms that have high costs of cleanup or reducing GHG emissions. Because of this, corn ethanol producers can sell their rights to pollute increasing revenue and lowering costs and at the same time reducing GHG emissions.

Although this paper is fairly recent (2008), the data used and analyzed is still older. This comes back to the topic that we need an update on the efficiency and GHG reductions of corn ethanol. To help support corn ethanol, start by learning more about corn ethanol by reading this blog as well being more active. You can start by writing a letter to congress.

To read the full research paper:
http://www.ethanol.org/pdf/contentmgmt/Improvements_in_Life_Cycle_Energy_Efficiency_and_Greenhouse_Gas_Emissions_of_CornEthanol.pdf

To write a letter to congress:
http://letter2congress.rallycongress.com/698/