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U.S. ethanol production keeps right on building Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Agri News staff writer
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- The United States began 2006 with 6 billion gallons of ethanol capacity, well on the way to the 7.5 billion gallon capacity by 2012 set out in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Biodiesel is growing as well, with 225 million gallons of production, said Doug Tiffany, a research fellow in agricultural energy production and use at the University of Minnesota. Biodiesel may have a tough time expanding in the United States because of competition for acres.
Ethanol is consuming an ever-expanding piece of the corn production pie, keeping corn prices above $4 per bushel through December 2010, said Robert Wisner, an Iowa State University economics professor. If ethanol production continues to climb, more corn will be used for ethanol than exported, Wisner said. Livestock producers will be squeezed by higher priced feedstuffs. Livestock producers may turn to dried distillers grains as an alternative feed. DDGs work best in dairy and beef rations, Tiffany said. They are more difficult to work with in poultry and swine rations.
He said 45 percent of DDGs are fed to dairy animals and 37 percent to beef. Another 13 percent are fed to swine and 5 percent to poultry. Generally, the price of DDGs correlates with the price of corn and it's a pretty good feed, but it is much more variable than soybean meal, Tiffany said.
Each bushel of corn fermented to ethanol produces 2.75 gallons of ethanol, 18 pounds of dried distillers grain and 18 pounds of CO2. About 20 percent of plants capture the CO2, Tiffany said. Agriculture is rapidly moving from providing food and fiber to providing food, fiber and fuel, Wisner said.
If the total number of plants planned in Iowa are built, there will be 71 ethanol plants in Iowa, consuming the equivalent of 142.4 percent of the 2006 crop.
"What happens when there's not enough corn to go around?" Wisner asks. |
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