Ethanol saves energy – report

A new study published in the magazine Science has indicated that making motor fuel from corn can save energy.

For years, a debate has raged over whether turning corn into alcohol really saves fuel, those opposed to the wider use of ethanol as a motor fuel arguing against that the process of turning corn into alcohol ultimately consumed more energy than it saved.

Academics, farmers, the farm lobby, energy companies, environmentalists and carmakers were all dragged into the debate, which has grown in the US as the price of oil has risen.