[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 101 (Friday, July 22, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H6372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ETHANOL'S POSITIVE ENERGY BALANCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from South Dakota (Ms. Herseth) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. HERSETH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to again set the record 
straight regarding one of the persistent urban myths about ethanol and 
other renewable fuels. Yet again in the past couple of weeks I read 
about another study that contains faulty and outdated assumptions, 
analysis and conclusions about the net energy balance of producing 
renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel.
  Whether produced from corn or other grains or biomass, ethanol 
production has matured into an extremely energy-efficient process. As 
you would expect with any developing industry, technological advances 
have greatly improved these efficiencies over the years. Unfortunately, 
some academic studies choose to ignore these improvements.
  Farmers are much more efficient today than they were in years past. 
They get more bushels of corn from an acre of land than we did 25 years 
ago. Some areas have seen yield improvements of 45 percent or more. 
Moreover, they do it using far less energy. Farmers today use precision 
and no-till farming to greatly reduce tillage trips and chemical 
applications. The efficiency of fertilizer and pesticide production 
also has greatly improved over the years.
  What is more, the process of turning this corn into ethanol has 
greatly improved. Mechanical and biological advancements in the process 
mean that we get more ethanol from a bushel of corn than we used to. 
All of these developments have a significant and positive impact on the 
net energy balance of ethanol production.
  This fact has been confirmed by countless analyses. A recent study by 
the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory found that for 
every 100 BTUs of energy used to produce ethanol, 135 BTUs of ethanol 
are produced. That is because corn plants are extremely efficient solar 
panels. USDA analysis has found that corn farmers use about half the 
energy to produce a bushel of corn than they did just 25 years ago.
  And the industry is not resting on its laurels. Research continues 
into ethanol production from feed stock such as rice straw, corn 
stover, and sugar cane waste. These should even further reduce fossil 
energy use and improve net energy balance. According to the U.S. 
Department of Energy, ethanol produced from these sources generates 
13.2 BTUs of energy for every BTU of fossil energy consumed.
  Finally, I will share with my colleagues an important point that was 
raised yesterday in an Agriculture Committee hearing on renewable 
fuels. Calculating and arguing over the net energy balance of ethanol, 
petroleum and any other energy source is not even the most relevant 
inquiry. From an economic standpoint, the pertinent question really 
should be, what does it cost to put a gallon of fuel in my gas tank 
when and where I want to?
  Based on that inquiry, ethanol is clearly winning that contest today. 
Today in Sioux Falls, South Dakota you can go to any Get-n-Go gas 
station in the city and purchase a gallon of E85, a blend of 85 percent 
ethanol and 15 percent gasoline for $1.79, whereas a gallon of premium 
gasoline costs $2.39. If you know how frugal South Dakotans are, I do 
not have to tell you which pump they are lining up behind.

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