• Business & Economy
  • Politics & Government
    • Campaign Countdown
      • 2012 Reports
  • Sports
  • High School Sports
    • Football Friday Night
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • All Topics

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

  • Home
  • Audio Archives
  • Contact Us
  • Reporters
  • Affiliates
  • Affiliate Support
  • PostsComments
You are here: Home / Agriculture / Iowa ethanol plants break production record

Iowa ethanol plants break production record

December 30, 2015 By Pat Curtis

Ethanol-pumpIowa Renewable Fuels Association executive director Monte Shaw says Iowa’s 43 ethanol plants churned out a record amount of the corn-based fuel additive this year.

“We’re excited that we exceeded our previous record and exceeded 4 billion gallons of ethanol production in 2015. That was up a bit over last year (3.9 billion gallons),” Shaw said.

Iowa produced about 27-percent of the nation’s ethanol. Shaw is hoping Iowa can boost ethanol production even further in 2016.

He notes a U.S. Department of Agriculture program will result in the installation more fuel pumps capable of distributing higher blends of ethanol. “That grant program should bring on several more hundred blender pumps over the course of the next year and that’s really going to help,” Shaw said.

In November, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its final targets for using renewable fuels in the next two years under what’s called the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The numbers for ethanol are below the original numbers called for in the law.

Shaw says that gives oil companies a monopoly on fuel choice. “Right now, we’ve got tons of corn sitting around — we can’t sell it, more corn than the world needs,” Shaw said. “But we could be turning into ethanol if consumers were simply given the choice of higher blends like E-15, E-30, or E-85.”

Shaw credits the production increase this year to “efficiency gains and debottlenecking” at existing plants, as well as ethanol production from cellulosic feedstocks such as corn stover and corn kernel fiber.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Agriculture, News

Featured Stories

ISU expert says roofs should be able to handle snow load

Buyer plans to reopen Boondocks Truck Stop

How do schools make up days missed for winter weather?

Democrat from Cedar Falls resigned from Iowa Senate today

DOT could end up with a record use of salt and sand on roadways

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Iowa State looks to bounce back at TCU

IHSAA to discuss ways to strengthen dual team tournament

Drake holds off Southern Illinois

Bohannon’s three pointer caps furious Iowa rally

Iowa State holds off Oklahoma

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2019 · Learfield News & Ag, LLC