Ethanol Can Contribute to Energy and Environmental Goals

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 311; no. 5760; pp. 506 - 508
• Main Authors: Farrell, A.F, Plevin, R.J, Turner, B.T, Jones, A.D, O'Hare, M, Kammen, D.M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 27.01.2006; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: alcoholic fermentation; Alcohols: methanol, ethanol, etc; Alternative fuels. Production and utilization; Applied sciences; Biofuels; Biotechnology; Cellulose - metabolism; Comparative analysis; Corn; Emissions; Energy; energy conservation; energy use and consumption; Energy value; Energy-Generating Resources; Environment; Environmental effects; Ethanol; Ethanol - metabolism; Ethanol fuels; Ethanol production; Exact sciences and technology; Fuels; gas emissions; Gasoline; Greenhouse Effect; Greenhouse gas emissions; Greenhouse gases; Petroleum; pollution control; Renewable energy; Zea mays; Zea mays - metabolism; Greenhouse effect; Ethanol; Alternative motor fuel; Cellulose; Corn; Biofuel; Pollutant emission
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1121416

To study the potential effects of increased biofuel use, we evaluated six representative analyses of fuel ethanol. Studies that reported negative net energy incorrectly ignored coproducts and used some obsolete data. All studies indicated that current corn ethanol technologies are much less petroleum-intensive than gasoline but have greenhouse gas emissions similar to those of gasoline. However, many important environmental effects of biofuel production are poorly understood. New metrics that measure specific resource inputs are developed, but further research into environmental metrics is needed. Nonetheless, it is already clear that large-scale use of ethanol for fuel will almost certainly require cellulosic technology.