One of the most controversial issues relating to ethanol is the question of what environmentalists call the “net energy” of ethanol production. Simply put, is more energy used to grow and process the raw material into ethanol than is contained in the ethanol itself? In 1992, ILSR addressed this question. Our report, based on actual energy consumption data from farmers and ethanol plant operators, was widely disseminated and its methodology has been imitated by a number of other researchers. This paper updates the data in that original report and addresses some of the concerns that some reviewers of the original report expressed.
