BioFuels Journal spoke with Merle Anderson, founder and first President of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), about the energy balance for ethanol.
Highlights From the Podcast
• Critics of ethanol have accused the fuel of using more energy to produce it then the fuel creates.
• In fact, fossil fuel use is minimal in the production of corn. Using older yield figures for corn, there are 89 gallons of ethanol for one gallon of diesel fuel put in.
• In modern agriculture, a 160-acre field of corn yields 200 bushels per acre, producing 96,000 gallons of ethanol with 480 gallons of diesel fuel. For every one gallon of diesel fuel, 200 gallons of ethanol is produced.
• A 160-acre field of corn would produce enough ethanol to allow you to drive an automobile 200,000 miles.
Biography
Merle Anderson was a founder and the first president of the American Coalition for Ethanol.
He was born August 31, 1921, on a farm near Eldred, MN and raised on a farm near Climax, MN.
Merle dedicated his life to being an active voice for agriculture and ethanol.
In 1944 he married Leona Shimeck and in 1948 he purchased his father's farm.
From there he became active in grass-roots agriculture.
He served on many local, state and national boards of directors.
In 1988 Merle helped unite a variety of organizations that supported ethanol production and use into the American Coalition for Ethanol(ACE).
This new group helped all other organizations, businesses and individuals come together in support of ethanol.
Merle served as the first president of ACE from 1988 to 1992.
After that, he remained active on the ACE board of directors and continued to be an eloquent and sincere voice for ethanol.
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