Abstract
The variation, with growth rate, of the yield of organism from the substrate used as energy source is attributed to consumption of energy at a constant rate for cell maintenance. From the laws of growth, a simple relation between the maintenance requirement, the growth yield and the growth rate is derived. The relation is shown to be in good agreement with the available data. A distinction is made between 'observed' yield and 'true' yield of organisms. Values for maintenance energies and 'true growth yields' have been calculated from the data.