Production and Demand

Consumer demand and the 2007 Renewable Fuels Standard continue to help the ethanol industry set production records. In 2007, ethanol production capacity stood at 8 billion gallons with an additional 6.6 billion gallons of production capacity under construction. Projected ethanol production for 2008 is 7.7 billion gallons with a total operating capacity of 8.5 billion gallons per year (bgy). Worldwide production capacity stands at 43 bgy from 565 plants located in 56 countries.  April 2008 . . .  Ethanol

Marketing

• Ability of the U.S. Ethanol Industry to Replace MTBE
• American Coalition for Ethanol - Dedicated to the promotion and use of ethanol. Includes alerts, articles, and events.
• Bioenergy Web Program Available, Iowa State University - The archive of the Alternative Crops and Alternative Policies for Bioenergy Web program delivered on March 5, 2007, is available. Several ISU economists and bioenergy experts presented information on five issues.
• Cellulosic Ethanol, AgMRC, Iowa State University, 2007. 
• Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy, 2004.
• Distillers Dried Grains and Their Impact on Corn, Soymeal, and Livestock Markets, Steve Markham, Commodity Specialists Company. 
• Distillers Grains Technology Council - Promoting the use of high-quality distillers grains. Research information and links to processing, nutritional value analysis and feeding trials of distillers grains.
• The Economic Impact of Ethanol and Distiller’s Grain Production on Ethanol Producers and Cattle Feeders, Josh Hoeme and Michael Wolverton, Kansas State University. 
• Economic Impact of the Ethanol Industry in Iowa, Iowa State University, 2004 - Looks at capacity, the impacts in agriculture and the impact on the economy itself.
• Economic Issues with Ethanol, Revisited, Kansas State University, 2004 - Looks at ethanol production, demand and current issues impacting the renewable fuel.
• Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network
• Ethanol Across America - Uses a wide range of methods to educate the public, including educational publications, conferences and workshops, consumer brochures and an already-released curriculum guide for a high school course on ethanol. Ethanol Across America also serves as an information clearinghouse by creating national services directory databases and a national speakers bureau.
• Ethanol Reshapes the Corn Market, Amber Waves magazine, USDA, 2007.
• Farm Bill Energy Provisions: A California Perspective, by Hyunok Lee and Daniel A. Sumner, AIC Farm Bill Brief #7, 2007 - Energy is among the most discussed topics in the lead up to the 2007 Farm Bill. While the high cost of energy to farmers and ranchers has been raised, the main focus has been on programs related to agriculture as a producer of energy, especially biofuels. 
• Forecasts for Biomass Ethanol Production Under Three Different Technology Cases for the Period 2000 to 2020, Department of Energy. Also at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/index.html.
• Governors' Ethanol Coalition
• Illinois Ethanol Prefeasibility Evaluator
• Infrastructure Requirements for an Expanded Fuel Ethanol Industry, Downstream Alternatives Inc.
• Input-Outrageous: the Economic Impacts of Modern Biofuel Production, Iowa State University, 2006 - This paper questions the accuracy of projections about the economic impact of ethanol and looks at the findings of a modeled ethanol plant in Iowa. 
• List of Ethanol Market Researchers and Consultants, American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE).
• Market Power in the Corn Sector: How Does It Affect the Impacts of the Ethanal Subsidy? University of California Agricultural Issues Center, 2008 - Market power is discussed frequently in debates about subsidies for ethanol production. The structural conditions in the corn industry create a case for concerns about market power. This paper by Tina L. Saitone, Richard J. Sexton and Steven E. Sexton develops an analytical model for determining the production and price impacts and the distribution of benefits from the U.S. ethanol subsidy when upstream sellers in the seed sector and downstream buyers in the processing sector may exercise market power. Results demonstrate that the impacts on prices and output are limited for modest departures from competition. Distributional impacts are much greater. Seed producers and corn processors with market power are able to capture relatively large shares of the benefits of the subsidy.
• National Corn Growers Association - Links to state associations and news about ethanol initatives around the country.
• New Uses Council- Nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the development and commercialization of biobased products.
• The Online Distillery Network for Distillers and Fuel Ethanol Plants - Links to equipment, services, supplies and related news.
• Renewable Fuels Association - The trade association for the fuel ethanol industry.
• Renewable Fuels Association - Lists Federal programs that can assist entities seeking to develop and build an ethanol production facility.
• Sustainable Minnesota - News Clip of Minnesota Ethanol Progress
• U.S. Department of Energy - Bioethanol
• U.S. Department of Energy Office of Biomass Program
• The U.S. Ethanol Industry: Where Will it be Located in the Future?  University of California Agricultural Issues Center, 2005 - This Kansas State University report provides an overview of the potential demand for distillers grains based on the location of animal agriculture in the United States.
• USDA Announces FY2005 Bioenergy Program that Provides $150 Million for Bioenergy Producers Sign-up Underway in August 2004

Processing/Manufacturing

• Directory of Ongoing Biofuel Research Projects, Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA.
• The Economics of Ethanol from Sweet Sorghum Using the MixAlco Process, Agricultural and Food Policy Center, Texas A&M University, 2006 - This research report discusses the conversion of biomass to renewable fuels, more specifically, using sweet sorghum as an ethanol fuel stock.
• Ethanol in California: a Feasibility Framework, 2004 - An analysis of what it would take to develop a local ethanol supply based on food processing waste from California's multi-billion dollar agricultural industry. The study was funded by a USDA Rural Development Rural Business Enterprise Grant administered by the Great Valley Center.
• Ethanol Supply Outlook for California, California Energy Commission - This report provides an update of the California Energy Commissioner's ongoing investigations of the California near-term ethanol fuel supply picture. Results of the 2003 U.S. ethanol industry production capacity survey and the status of ethanol production plans within California.
• Factors associated with Success of Fuel Ethanol Producers, Research funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, Staff Paper P03-7, 2003 - Contains a review of research on economic factors associated with success or failure of dry-mill ethanol plants utilizing corn as a feedstock. Included are three interactive spreadsheet models that can be used to analyze research assumptions and their interaction with various profitability factors.
• Risk Factors in Ethanol Production, Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University, 2004 - Examines risks and outcomes of investing in ethanol facilities.

Production

• Agricultural Baseline Projections: U.S. Crops, 2008-2017, ERS, USDA, 2008. 
• Alternative Fuels Data Center.
• Crops, Long-term Projections, ERS, USDA, 2008.
• Current Issues in Ethanol Production, Matt Young and Michael Boland, Kansas State University and Don Hofstrand, AgMRC, Iowa State University, 2007.
• The Dry-Mill Ethanol Industry Biobased Products and Bioenergy - Dry-mill success stories from the National Biobased Products & Bioenergy Coordination Office
• Determining the Regional Economic Values of Ethanol Production in Iowa Considering Different Levels of Local Investment, Iowa State University, 2006 - This report discusses the true economic value of ethanol plants in terms of jobs. The research indicated that a new ethanol plant with no local ownership either creates directly or otherwise stimulates a total of 133 jobs in the regional economy. However, 29 more jobs are created for every 25-percent increase in local ownership of the plant.   /  Iowa is the national center of an ethanol plant construction boom. There are 27 plants currently processing corn, mostly for ethanol, and as many more either under construction, planned or proposed. . . News release
• Ethanol Case Prelude, Sparks Companies, Inc., 2002 - This research takes a look at the process of building an ethanol facility in eastern Kansas or western Missouri. Along with this prelude, three attachments cover Corn Based Ethanol Costs and Margins, U.S. Ethanol Consumption Outlook and U.S. Ethanol Industry with Comments on the Great Plains.
• Ethanol and Cattle Worksheet, Iowa Beef Center, Iowa State University, 2003.
• Ethanol Plant Analyzer, Montana State University and Farm Foundation, 2003 - This mapping application allows you to see what would happen to corn prices in a local area throughout the United States if you opened an ethanol plant of a given size.
• Expected Impacts of Increased Ethanol Production, Pat Westhoff, FAPRI, University of Missouri, 2006.
• Feasibility of Producing Ethanol from Biomass in Northeastern North Dakota and Northwestern Minnesota - This feasibility study was supported, in part, by a Western Regional Biomass Energy Program Department of Energy grant award.
• Iowa Ethanol Resource Manual, 2000 - Provides an overview of key considerations in developing an ethanol facility.
• Key Consideration Points to Ensure a Successful Business Plan for Developing an Ethanol Manufacturing Business, Iowa State University, 2002  - This paper was written in response to a request for assistance in answering the question “What should we include in a business plan that would enhance the probability of success in building an ethanol facility?” This paper is especially targeted at new, farmer-owned, dry mill ethanol manufacturing businesses.
• Pipeline Considerations for Ethanol, Sparks Companies, Inc., 2002 - Pipelines transport fluid quickly and economically. This research paper examines whether a pipeline is a feasible option for ethanol.
• Renewable Energy Web Page, Agricultural Economics Department, Kansas State University - Contains links to economic analyses of ethanol and biodiesel as well as a link to an Ethanol Pre-feasibility Calculator.
• Sourcing Corn for Ethanol, Iowa Grain Quality Initiative - This study collected data to indicate the magnitude of current and future impacts of ethanol production on Iowa agricultural logistics.
• Wheat Straw for Ethanol Production in Washington: A Resource, Technical and Economic Assessment, Washington State University Energy Program - Cooperative Extension.

Businesses/Case Studies

• BBI International - Biofuel consulting services and biofuel information source.
• Ethanol Industry with Comments on the Great Plains 
• Ethanol Marketplace - Ethanol industry information linking vendors, contractors, consultants, engineers and producers. 

• Watching Corn Grow: A Hedonic Study of the Iowa Landscape, Silvia Secchi, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), Iowa State University, 2007.

 
Links checked March 2008.