Production and Demand

U.S. ethanol production increased from 3.4 billion gallons in 2004 to 14.8 billion gallons in 2012.

According to Ethanol Producer magazine, there are currently 218 ethanol plants in the United States producing 14.8 billion gallons of fuel ethanol per year (bgy). Canada has 16 plants producing 1.8 bgy. In the United States, 8 new plants are under construction that represent 191 million gallons per year (mgy) of production, and Canada has 2 plants under construction representing 76 mgy.

The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requires that 15 billion gallons of "conventional" biofuels (including corn/wheat/sugar-based ethanol and biodiesel made from vegetable oils and animal fat) be produced by 2015; at this time, fuel ethanol production nearly meets the RFS.  April 2012 ...  Ethanol


Marketing

• Ability of the U.S. Ethanol Industry to Replace MTBE.
• Agriculture’s Supply and Demand for Energy and Energy Products, ERS, USDA, May 2013 - Farmers have adapted to rising energy prices and evolving policies by adjusting their use of energy-based agricultural inputs, altering energy-intensive production practices and growing more energy-feedstock crops.
• American Coalition for Ethanol - Dedicated to the promotion and use of ethanol. Includes alerts, articles and events.
• Bioenergy Outlook, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA - Examines supply, use, prices, and trade for biofuels and biofuel feedstocks, including supply and demand prospects in major producing, importing and exporting countries. Focuses on ethanol and corn, biodiesel and soybeans.
• Cellulosic Ethanol, AgMRC, Iowa State University, 2007.
• 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.
• 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, and consumer brochures. Ethanol Across America also serves as an information clearinghouse by creating national services directory databases and a national speakers bureau.
• Ethanol and a Changing Agricultural Landscape, ERS, USDA, 2009 - This report summarizes the estimated effects of meeting the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) targets for 2015 on regional agricultural production and the environment.
• Ethanol Co-Product Use in U.S. Cattle Feeding, ERS, USDA, 2009 - Ethanol co-products, such as dried distiller's grains, have become economically profitable ingredients in cattle feed rations during the last few years.
• Ethanol: Economic and Policy Issues, Congressional Research Service, 2009.
• Ethanol Reshapes the Corn Market, Amber Waves magazine, ERS, USDA, 2007.
• Farm Bill Energy Provisions: A California Perspective, by Hyunok Lee and Daniel A. Sumner, AIC Farm Bill Brief #7, 2007 - Energy was 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.
• Feasibility Assessment Template for an Enzymatic Hydrolysis Lignocellulosic Ethanol Plant, Oklahoma State University, 2008 - This tool is designed to assess the feasibility of building an ethanol plant. Users may input such key information as plant capacity, feedstock, equipment costs and personnel and then perform a sensitivity analysis, thus determining how plant profits will be affected by internal and external changes. A guide to using the template is provided.
• 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.
• Fuel Ethanol: Background and Public Policy Issues, Congressional Research Service, 2008.
• Full Throttle U.S. Ethanol Expansion Faces Challenges Down the Road, Amber Waves magazine, ERS, USDA, 2009 - New technologies, supporting infrastructures and greater demand will be needed to meet the country’s ambitious mandate to increase biofuel use.
• 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 Ethanol Subsidy?, Agricultural Issues Center, University of California, 2008 - This paper 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. 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 initiatives 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 Fuel Standard: Potential Economic and Environmental Effects of U.S. Biofuel Policy, National Research Council, 2011 - This National Academy of Sciences study found that since 2007, the diversion of portions of the corn crop to ethanol production has been a contributing factor to the increased strain on livestock and poultry producers. The report describes biofuels produced in 2010 and those projected to be produced and consumed by 2022, reviews model projections and other estimates of the relative impact on the prices of land, and discusses the potential environmental harm and benefits of biofuel production and the barriers to achieving the RFS2 consumption mandate. The full report can be read free online.
• Renewable Fuels Association - The trade association for the fuel ethanol industry.
• Report on Ethanol Market Concentration, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 2009 - The FTC’s fifth annual report concludes that the U.S. fuel ethanol market, measured either by production capacity or by actual production, remains unconcentrated. As of September 2009, 160 firms produced ethanol in the United State.
• U.S. Department of Energy - Biomass.
• U.S. Department of Energy Office of Biomass Program.
• U.S. Ethanol and Biofuel Policy Provisions, U.S. Crops, Food and Ag Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) 2009 Agricultural Outlook, University of Missouri.
• The U.S. Ethanol Industry: Where Will it be Located in the Future?, Agricultural Issues Center, University of California, 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.

Processing/Manufacturing

• Beer Brewer Converts Waste into Ethanol, Market to Market, Iowa Public Television, 2008 - Coors Brewing Company is taking the waste from the 16 million barrels of beer produced each year at their Golden, Colorado, facility and using it to make 3 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol per year.
• 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 Co-Products Used for Livestock Feed, National Ag Statistics Service (NASS), USDA, 2007 - Provides the results of a survey of livestock producers in 12 Midwestern states to determine current usage of distillers grains, essential feed characteristics and concerns keeping producers from using distillers grains.
• 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 USDA and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, 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.
• Using Real Options to Evaluate Investments in Ethanol Facilities, Tianyu Zou and Glenn Pederson, University of Minnesota, 2008 - The overall objective of this AgMRC-funded research was to gain new knowledge about how option value affects the decision to invest in ethanol facilities. Option value was shown to arise from uncertainty about project cash flows. Two options were considered: expanding the scale of a conventional ethanol plant and choosing a production technology.

Production

• USDA Agricultural Projections to 2021, ERS, USDA, 2012.
• Alternative Fuels Data Center.
• Can Brazil Meet the World's Growing Need for Ethanol?, Amber Waves magazine, ERS, USDA, 2011.
• 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.
• 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.
• Growing Crops for Biofuels Has Spillover Effects, Amber Waves magazine, ERS, USDA, 2009 - Growing demand for corn as biofuel feedstock will change agriculture as regional cropping patterns adjust and production practices adapt.
• IPipeline 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.
• Land Use Changes and Consequent CO2 Emissions due to U.S. Corn Ethanol Production: A Comprehensive Analysis, Purdue University, 2010 - The basic objective of this research was to estimate land use changes associated with U.S. corn ethanol production up to the 15 billion gallon Renewable Fuel Standard level implied by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The researchers also used the estimated land use changes to calculate greenhouse gas emissions associated with the corn ethanol production.
• 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

• American Crystal Sugar Company: Making Ethanol from Sugar Beets?, Greg McKee, North Dakota State University, and Mike Boland, Kansas State University, 2007 - This case study considers various economic factors that impact the supply and demand for ethanol and how sugar beet ethanol is produced.
• BBI International - Biofuel consulting services and biofuel information source.
• Central Minnesota Ethanol Cooperative, Little Falls, Minnesota - This cooperative has a plant that produces fuel grade ethanol and dried distillers drains with solubles from the processing of locally produced corn.
• Ethanol Industry with Comments on the Great Plains.
• Ethanol Marketplace - Ethanol industry information linking vendors, contractors, consultants, engineers and producers.
• Golden Grain Energy - This privately-held company is dedicated to adding value to Northern Iowa's corn production by turning locally-grown corn into clean-burning ethanol.
• 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 May 2012.