"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...
"Robert Sturgeon" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 10:39:12 -0600, dazed and confuzzed
wrote:

Dave Lyon wrote:

It takes more oil energy to produce a gallon of grain Ethanol than
you can get back by burning same IIRC.




No it doesn't That's a lie that has been originated by oil companies.

Only wingers believe it.


actually, it's true.

I've read that is takes more energy to make ethanol than
ethanol provides, which wouldn't be too surprising. I
really doubt that it takes more OIL energy to make ethanol
that ethanol provides. I would like to see some proof of
that claim.

You can find it if you dig through the DOE white papers. Grain-based
ethanol
passed the zero point of net energy gain in the mid-'90s, IIRC. Cellulosic
ethanol is considerably better. And solar cells passed the zero point by
1990.

It's hard to find good energy audits, because many of the people doing
them
have an axe to grind. But there are some out there that appear to be
pretty
good.

Here's a link to a presentation that touches on the subject:

http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/TA/349.pdf

See page 21. As might be expected there is considerable difference of
opinion on the subject of net energy balance for ethanol.

Mike