Ethanol Production At Record Levels; Biodiesel Too

NAFB News Service  • Posted: Sunday, December 25, 2011

According to the Energy Information Administration, ethanol production averaged 943-thousand barrels per day – or 39.6-million gallons daily during the latest reporting week. That is up 5-thousand barrels per day from the record set the previous week. The 4-week average for ethanol production stood at 935-thousand barrels per day for an annualized rate of 14.43-billion gallons. Stocks of ethanol stood at 17.7-million barrels.

Gasoline demand for the week averaged 372.9-million gallons daily. Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production was 10.62 percent.

On the co-products side, ethanol producers were using 14.298-million bushels of corn to produce ethanol and 106,134 metric tons of livestock feed, 95,754 metric tons of which were distillers grains. The rest is comprised of corn gluten feed and corn gluten meal. Additionally, ethanol producers were providing 4.34-million pounds of corn oil daily.

Domestic Biodiesel Production Setting Records

The EPA reports that nearly 108-million gallons of Biomass-based Diesel were sold during the month of November, continuing a record year of production. Biodiesel makes up the vast majority of the EPA’s Biomass-based Diesel category under the Renewable Fuel Standard program, representing about 95 percent of the volume this year. Biodiesel production specifically had reached an all-time high 908-million gallons through the end of November. The previous annual record was 690-million gallons in 2008.

According to the National Biodiesel Board, biodiesel is America’s first Advanced Biofuel – a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement that is creating good-paying jobs, reducing U.S. dependence on foreign petroleum and improving our environment. It is produced in nearly every state in the country and is on pace to support more than 39-thousand U.S. jobs in 2011 while replacing roughly 1-billion gallons of petroleum diesel.

 

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