 |
|
|
David Delaney explains why corn ethanol is profitable |
|
Why is corn ethanol very profitable in spite of the fact that its energy return on energy invested (EROEI) is so poor? (The EROEI of corn-ethanol is less than 1.5 ethanol energy units from 1 energy unit invested in the process). The answer, it seems, is that a large fraction of the energy used in processing corn to make ethanol is provided by coal. Coal energy is much less costly than oil energy. The whole corn ethanol industry is just an arbitrage mechanism between coal and oil prices. This also means that one of the ostensibly green reasons to support corn ethanol production, that it reduces CO2 emissions, is sheer nonsense. |
Chapter Choice | Contact | Survey | Free CD