WATCH: 40 Facts About Ethanol

 

 

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Sources

  1. “1982: A handful of small ethanol plants produced 350 million gallons of ethanol.” Source: Energy Information Administration.
  2. “1992: 39 ethanol plants produced 985 million gallons of ethanol.” Source: Energy Information Administration.
  3. “2002: 66 ethanol plants were in operation, producing 2.14 billion gallons.” Source: Energy Information Administration.
  4. “2012: 211 ethanol plants produced 13.3 billion gallons.” Source: Energy Information Administration.
  5. “That’s 3700% growth in 30 years.” Source: Energy Information Administration.
  6. “Today, ethanol makes up 10% of the U.S. gasoline supply. That’s up from less than 1% just 20 years ago.” Sources: Energy Information Administration, Renewable Fuels Association.
  7. “Ethanol is blended in more than 97% of U.S. gasoline today, from coast to coast and border to border. That compares to just 15% in 2002.” Sources: Energy Information Administration and Federal Highway Administration.
  8. “Last year, ethanol displaced an amount of gasoline refined from 462 million barrels of imported crude oil.” Source: Cardno ENTRIX, “Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy of the United States”, (January 2013).
  9. “That’s more oil than we imported from Saudi Arabia.” Source: Energy Information Administration.
  10. “And it means the U.S. reduced expenditures on imported oil by $44 billion last year.” Source: Cardno ENTRIX, “Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy of the United States”, (January 2013).
  11. “Oil imports from OPEC are down 22% since the Renewable Fuel Standard was expanded in 2007.” Source: Energy Information Administration.
  12. “And oil imports from the Persian Gulf are down 30% over the past decade.” Source: Energy Information Administration.
  13. “Oil import dependence dropped to 41% in 2012 — the lowest since 1995. Without ethanol, oil import dependence would have been 48%.” Sources: Energy Information Administration, Renewable Fuels Association.
  14. “Today’s producers get more ethanol out of every bushel—and use less energy and water to do it. That’s the definition of sustainability.”
  15. “Since 2001: “Natural gas energy required to produce a gallon of ethanol has fallen 28%.” Source: Dr. Mueller, Steffen, (May 4, 2010), “Detailed Report: 2008 National Dry Mill Corn Ethanol Survey,” University of Illinois at Chicago. “Electricity use is down 32%.”Source: Dr. Mueller, Steffen, (May 4, 2010), “Detailed Report: 2008 National Dry Mill Corn Ethanol Survey,” University of Illinois at Chicago. “The amount of ethanol produced per bushel of corn has increased to 2.8 gallons, up more than 5%.” Source: Dr. Mueller, Steffen, (May 4, 2010), “Detailed Report: 2008 National Dry Mill Corn Ethanol Survey,” University of Illinois at Chicago. “Water use has fallen to 2.7 gallons per gallon of ethanol, down 40% over the last decade and comparable to water use for gasoline production.” Source: Dr. Mueller, Steffen, (May 4, 2010), “Detailed Report: 2008 National Dry Mill Corn Ethanol Survey,” University of Illinois at Chicago.
  16. “Producing 20 barrels of ethanol requires just 1 barrel of crude oil.” Source: “Ethanol Can Contribute to Energy and Environmental Goals,” University of California at Berkeley, January 27, 2006.
  17. “Ethanol’s energy balance is continually improving: 1 unit of energy invested in making ethanol yields up to 2.3 units of energy available for the consumer.” Source: “2008 Energy Balance for the Corn-Ethanol Industry,” Agricultural Economic Report Number 846, U.S. Department of Agriculture — Office of the Chief Economist, June 2010.
  18. “Ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 40-50% when compared directly to gasoline.” Source: Liska, A.J., H.S. Yang, V.R. Bremer, T.J. Klopfenstein, D.T. Walters, G.E. Erickson, and K.G. Cassman. 2009. Improvements in Life Cycle Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn-Ethanol.  Journal of Industrial Ecology. 13(1): 58-74. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121647166/PDFSTART.
  19. “Emissions of particulate matter, carbon monoxide, air toxics and volatile organic compounds are also reduced when ethanol is blended with gasoline.” Source: “Air Quality and Ethanol in Gasoline,” Gary Z. Whitten, Ph.D and Smog Reyes. February 4, 2004.
  20. “Ethanol is the cleanest and most affordable source of octane on the market today, displacing toxic aromatics such as benzene and toluene.”
  21. “Ethanol plants are important economic engines in Rural America.”
  22. “The industry was directly responsible for 87,000 jobs in 2012 and indirectly supported 295,000 more.” Source: Cardno ENTRIX, “Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy of the United States”, (January 2013).
  23. “More than $43.4 billion in U.S. gross domestic product was generated by the industry last year.” Source: Cardno ENTRIX, “Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy of the United States”, (January 2013).
  24. “Consumers benefit too: ethanol reduced gasoline prices by an average of $1.09 per gallon in 2011.” Source: Hayes, Dermot J., Du, Xiaodong (May 2012) The Impact of Ethanol Production on U.S. and Regional Gasoline Markets: An Update to 2012. Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD). http://www.card.iastate.edu/publications/dbs/pdffiles/12wp528.pdf.
  25. “That means the average American family saved $1,200 on gasoline purchases in 2011 because of ethanol.” Sources: RFA based on statistics from the Federal Highway Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy.
  26. “From 2000 to 2011, growth in ethanol use reduced gasoline prices by an average of $0.29 per gallon.” Source: Hayes, Dermot J., Du, Xiaodong (May 2012) The Impact of Ethanol Production on U.S. and Regional Gasoline Markets: An Update to 2012. Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD). http://www.card.iastate.edu/publications/dbs/pdffiles/12wp528.pdf.  
  27. “That saved the U.S. economy nearly $40 billion per year from 2000-2011 in gasoline purchases.” RFA based on Hayes & Du and statistics from the Energy Information Administration. 
  28. “Ethanol plants make more than fuel; they also generate highly nutritious animal feed.” 
  29. “1/3 of every bushel processed by a plant is used to make animal feed, while 1/3 goes to ethanol, and the other 1/3 produces CO2.” Sources: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Renewable Fuels Association.
  30. “Ethanol uses only the starch in the grain—the protein, fat, and fiber components are made into animal feed, such as distillers grains.”
  31. “Distillers grains have superior feeding value to corn, but typically costs less.”  Source: University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
  32. “Distillers grains are fed to beef and dairy cattle, hogs, poultry, fish and other meat animals around the world.”
  33. “The industry generated 37 million metric tons of feed in 2012—enough to produce 7 quarter-pound hamburger patties for every person on the planet.” Source: RFA calculations based on U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics.
  34. “The first generation of ethanol plants primarily uses grain to produce ethanol. But a second wave of advanced ethanol plants is being built that will use a new generation of feedstocks.”
  35. “At least eight commercial advanced ethanol plants are under construction or commissioning. “Source: “Cellulosic Biofuels Industry Progress Report 2012-2013,” http://ethanolrfa.org/page/-/PDFs/AEC%20Cellulosic%20Biofuels%20Industry%20Progress%20Report%202012-2013.pdf, Advanced Ethanol Council, (December 2012).
  36. “At least 10 more facilities are in the engineering phase, while a dozen more are in the pilot/demonstration stage.” Source: Advanced Ethanol Council.
  37. “These plants will use “cellulosic biomass” to make ethanol; things like corn stalks, wheat straw, poplar, paper waste, forestry residues, municipal waste and other materials.”
  38. “Cellulosic ethanol promises to reduce GHG emissions by up to 110% compared to gasoline.” Source: Environmental Protection Agency, “Renewable Fuel Standard Program (RFS2) Regulatory Impact Analysis,” http://www.epa.gov/otaq/renewablefuels/420r10006.pdf, (February 2010).
  39. “Many of these plants will also produce electricity.” Source: “Cellulosic Biofuels Industry Progress Report 2012-2013,” http://ethanolrfa.org/page/-/PDFs/AEC%20Cellulosic%20Biofuels%20Industry%20Progress%20Report%202012-2013.pdf, Advanced Ethanol Council, (December 2012).
  40. “The U.S. could produce 75 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels, five times the amount currently produced, according to the Department of Energy.” Source: Department of Energy, as cited in “Cellulosic Biofuels Industry Progress Report 2012-2013,” http://ethanolrfa.org/page/-/PDFs/AEC%20Cellulosic%20Biofuels%20Industry%20Progress%20Report%202012-2013.pdf, Advanced Ethanol Council, (December 2012).