New research shows a significant improvement in the efficiency of ethanol production. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack shared USDA studies at the National Ethanol Conference indicating today more energy is being produced from ethanol than is used to produce it. Nationally that factor is 2 to 1 and in the Midwest it’s 4 to 1. Renewable Fuels Association Senior Vice President Geoff Cooper says that runs counter to ethanol opponents that say it takes as much energy to make ethanol as it creates.

He says the improved ethanol production efficiency is a combination of new technology used on the farm and well as in ethanol plants.

Cooper says the use of precision agriculture and larger equipment to produce corn has also helped.

The USDA study showed that between 1991 and 2010, direct energy use in corn production dropped by 46 percent per bushel and total energy use per bushel of corn dropped by 35 percent.