Ethanol is a growing part of transport fuel blends today. Its energy content matters to any engineer working with it. Calorific value is the number that shows how much heat ethanol can release during combustion. It shapes fuel consumption estimates, thermal performance checks and energy balances. Pure ethanol has a higher heating value of around 29.7 MJ/kg. Its lower heating value sits closer to 26.8–26.9 MJ/kg. That gap matters. Industrial combustion systems rarely recover all the heat locked in the water vapour that combustion produces. What Is the Calorific Value of Ethanol? Calorific value is simple at its core. It is the heat released when a fixed amount of fuel undergoes complete combustion under set conditions. Ethanol undergoes combustion through this reaction: C₂H₅OH + 3O₂ → 2CO₂ + 3H₂O. But the exact heat released depends on one thing: what happens to the water formed. That is why ethanol carries two figures, not one – a higher heating value and a lower heating value. HHV and...