Unsustainable Subsidized Food Burning - 4/21/08

That’s how researcher David Pimental with Cornell University describes corn based ethanol production. “It is not a renewable energy source, it is costly in terms of production and subsidies, and its production causes environmental degradation,” he says.

Pimental’s research has shown ethanol production consumes more energy than is produced. The energy consumed to produce one gallon of ethanol is 129,600 British Thermal Units (BTU) while the energy value of the gallon of ethanol is only 76,000 BTU. This makes an energy loss of 53,600 BTU for every gallon of ethanol produced. So this means, 71% more energy is required to produce a gallon of ethanol than the energy contained in a gallon of ethanol.

Pimental’s research was performed in 1998 when corn was cheap, now with corn prices doubling since last year and most likely will go higher in the coming years, these number are way below actual numbers today.

The pro-ethanol experts dismiss Pimental’s findings claiming ethanol does provide a modest net positive energy, but does that account for the increase in corn, most likely not.

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