Impact of ethanol starting to hit home

…Pimentel acknowledges he’s in the minority among academics arguing that ethanol won’t help cure the nation’s energy ills: “It takes (43 percent) more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than you get out of it.” He claims conventional gasoline is more energy-efficient.

Roberts said Pimentel’s research is too pessimistic, and shouldn’t include certain input costs. He said ethanol actually nets a small energy gain, not a net loss. More meaningful, he said, is that ethanol releases fewer greenhouse gases than gasoline.


Dull said a looming oil shortage makes the ethanol vs. petroleum argument moot. The United States can’t become energy independent without conservation, he said.

“Americans have been spoiled by cheap food and cheap fuel,” Dull said. “People don’t like to hear that, but that’s the way I see it. Conservation has to be a major part of the solution, and we’re not there yet.”

Dayton Daily News