Despite unprecedented challenges, industry expansion and continued technological gains are being made by ethanol producers around the world. In the United States, where there are now more 200 industrial ethanol plants capable of producing more than 13 billion gallons of fuel at maximum production levels, many facilities are actively pursuing next-generation technologies that will usher in a new era of advanced biofuels.
Click here to view a comprehensive list of ethanol plants in the United States and Canada, including those “producing, not producing and under expansion.”
According to the Renewable Fuels Association, policy and market drivers including air quality, the economy, energy security and the growing need for domestic fuel sources, will compel growth for ethanol, not only in the United States but abroad, well into the foreseeable future. Over the past several years, the ethanol industry has expanded quickly to meet growing demand for renewable fuels in both existing and emerging markets. Record oil and gasoline prices, federal and state clean fuel programs, and mounting concerns about our nation's growing dependence on imported energy are prompting unprecedented ethanol demand. As a result, today ethanol is blended in virtually every gallon of gasoline sold in the United States.
The ethanol industry has not been immune to the global recession, record input costs, lower ethanol values and the reduction of credit in the market. In fact, more than 30 functioning ethanol plants have gone “idle” in the past 18 months as result of one or more of these factors. However, this presents unique opportunities for innovative technology and service providers, the sort of companies you’ll find exhibiting at the FEW, to introduce new and legacy facilities to solutions that will help them achieve sustainable profitability.
The future is bright for ethanol. Oil prices are exceeding $75 a barrel. Corn prices are at manageable levels. And the U.S. renewable fuels standard (RFS2) calls for the blending of nearly 13 billion gallons of ethanol and other biofuels in the U.S. motor fuels market in 2010—36 billion gallons by 2022. These are just a few of the reasons to be bullish on ethanol moving forward.
In fact, the industry’s greatest challenge today is not the cost of inputs or volatile market values, but the market barrier that has been created by the Untied State’s arbitrary limit on ethanol blending—a 10 percent cap that stands in direct conflict with the nation’s biofuels requirements. Now, the industry’s highest priority is removing the blend wall to allow gasoline blenders and refiners to take full advantage of the benefits of ethanol blending. Whether it is 13 percent, 15 percent or 20 percent, increasing the volume of ethanol blended into each gallon of gasoline is critical to the future of America’s ethanol industry.