Posted by IaGary on September 08, 2013 at 05:41:04 from (108.160.237.250):
I have heard several times that ethanol is an energy loser.
Yet the only study saying so was done in the 90"s by a group of College Students from Cornell on the east coast.
I read the results of their study and there were a lot of things that made no sense.
They added up all the energy it took to produce the crop, which is correct. But when they got that corn to the ethanol plant they charged the cost of the corn back out as an energy cost. They double charged for the corn cost. They also charged out the machinery and land cost as a energy cost as well. So yes it was an energy loser by their standards.
Here is a quick break down of how I feel the cost break down.
I have no way of knowing how much energy costs are in Seed, Fertilizer, and Chemicals. But the companys that produce those items make a hefty profit so it can"t all be energy costs.
I will still add all those in at 100% energy cost and still show an energy gain.
This is all based on one acre of corn in Johnson County Iowa.
Seed $100
Fertilizer $225
Chemicals $40
Actual fuel costs to plant, spray, combine and haul to the bin. 5 gallons an acre at $3.50 a gallon. $17.50
Machinery?? here again how much is energy cost. I figure it cost me about $70 an acre for machinery. So we will use $50 as energy cost.
Drying cost. Electricity and LP for 20% moisture corn $35.00
Cost of fuel to get the corn to the ethanol plant. $7.50
I not sure on the cost of fuel and electricity at the plant but we will say .50 a gallon. Bet I am high.
I still say land costs are not energy so I will not include that.
Total energy costs per acre $475 cost to produce 175 bushels of corn.
That corn will produce 490 gallons of ethanol at 2.7 gallons per bushel. The good plants are doing better than 2.7 per bushel. Back in the 90"s it was around 2.3 gallons per bushel. Or 402 gallons an acre.
490 gallons per acre at 2.80 a gallon sale price minus the 50 cent production costs at the plant equals $1127 per acre value.
Take that $1127 minus my $475 energy cost to produce and you have a $652 gain in energy.
Even if I add in land cost of $300 an acre rent I still gain $352 in energy.
And we still have the distillers grain that has a value to feed to livestock. No credit was given for that in the Cornell study either.
If someone can show me what I figured wrong and show a loss of energy please point it out.
Even if you figure BTU used versus BTU produced it will be a gain besides all the value added for jobs in this country.
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