An Analysis of Gasohol Energetics

The question of energy utilization and energy efficiency in the gasohol program has generated much discussion and considerable controversy. The purpose of this paper is to present a detailed energy balance associated with the components of the gasohol program, i.e., grain production, fuel alcohol production and the replacement of gasoline with ethanol to produce gasohol. The overall energy balance involves a comparison of a gasohol fuel economy with a gasoline fuel economy including the energy impact of the distillers dried grain which becomes available to the livestock feeding industry. ENERGY FOR CORN PRODUCTION Energy requirements for the production of agricultural products vary considerably from country to country. In less developed areas, the energy expended per unit of production is usually considerably lower than in highly developed areas of the world. On the other hand, the product production per unit of land is usually related to the energy expenditure and in