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To: patch789

He’s the liar?

http://www.utbioenergy.org/TNBiofuelsInitiative/FAQs/

Does it take more energy to produce ethanol than you get out of it?

Net energy value (NEV) is the term most used to describe the energy of ethanol. The NEV is the amount of ethanol energy produced minus the amount of energy used in the process to make ethanol. Overall, research has shown that the NEV of ethanol is positive. Some research, however, contends that the balance is negative. As technology has developed, the overall average NEV across all studies has been increasingly positive.

Another way to look at the energy balance is to look at the fossil energy ratio. The fossil energy ratio is the ratio between the amount of fossil energy used to create ethanol. For example, producing one unit of gasoline energy requires the input of 1.25 units of fossil energy. The fossil energy ratio here would be 0.8, indicating that it takes more energy to make gasoline than we get out of it. Corn grain ethanol has a fossil energy ratio of about 1.6,


12 posted on 05/11/2008 6:40:13 PM PDT by aft_lizard (born conservative...I chose to be a republican)
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To: aft_lizard
Another way to look at the energy balance is to look at the fossil energy ratio.

Why use an energy ratio that only counts some of the energy inputs? Power generated by Nuclear or Hydro is still power that had cost and other uses. It is only an attempt to make something like ethanol look better than it actually is.

28 posted on 05/12/2008 5:38:19 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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