Ethanol Industry Surpasses Key Production Goal

The U.S. ethanol industry has already surpassed the first-year goal of the renewable fuels standard (RFS) included in the recently enacted energy bill. According to data released by the Energy Information Administration, ethanol production in the U.S. averaged 261,000 barrels per day in September, which amounts to just over 4 billion gal on an annual basis. Ethanol production was up 1,000 bbl per day over August, and up 35,000 bbl per day over September 2004. “With more than a billion gallons of production capacity currently in construction, the U.S. ethanol industry will very soon become the world's leading producer of renewable fuels,” says Robert Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association. Currently, 93 ethanol plants in 20 states have a combined production capacity of about 4.2 billion gal a year. There are 23 ethanol plants and seven expansions under construction, with a combined annual capacity of more than 1 billion gal. Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the oil industry is required to blend 7.5 billion gal of ethanol and other renewable fuels into gasoline by 2012.