Year in review-EROI or energy return on (energy) invested
Abstract
There have been five foremost empirical efforts regarding energy return on investment (EROI) analysis over the past few years, including the topics of: (1) whether corn ethanol is a net energy yielder; (2) a summary of the state of EROI for most major fuel types; (3) alternative applications of EROI, such as energy return on water invested (EROWI); (4) the relation between EROI and the economy; and (5) an attempt to calculate the minimum EROI for a sustainable society. This paper offers a review of these five main areas of interest and provides a history of the development of EROI as well as a review of some of the various definitions of EROI and how they apply to EROI analyses. The paper concludes by listing numerous areas of improvement that are needed within EROI research.
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The EROEI for the production of bioethanol and biodiesel in the US is slightly higher than 1.
“The energy balance defined as EROEI (Energy Return On Energy Invested) for the production of bioethanol and biodiesel in the US is slightly higher than 1 [49].”
From Investigation of Biofuel as a Potential Renewable Energy Source (2021) · cites this paper as [49]
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New perspectives on the energy return on (energy) investment (EROI) of corn ethanol
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- Authors
- Murphy, D. J., & Hall, C. A. S.
- Affiliations
- SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (US)
- Corresponding author
- Murphy, David J.
- ORCID
- Hall, Charles A. S.
- Venue
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-01
- Volume
- 1185
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 102-118
- ISSN
- 0077-8923 (ISSN-L)
- 1749-6632
- OpenAlex
- W2117338840
- Cited by
- 491
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 63 · 2017: 31 · 2016: 45 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 51 · 2013: 52 · 2012: 23
- FWCI
- 1.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Commerce
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Global Energy and Sustainability Research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Sustainability and Ecological Systems Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Keywords
- energy return on investment, net energy analysis, corn ethanol, fuel type
- MeSH terms
- Agriculture, Conservation of Energy Resources, Conservation of Natural Resources, Efficiency, Energy-Generating Resources, Fossil Fuels, Gasoline, Humans, Mining, Solar Energy, Technology, Trees
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