US ethanol plant capacity increases for third consecutive year, new figures show

Fuel ethanol production capacity in the US was nearly 15 billion gallons per year, or 973,000 barrels per day (bpd), at the beginning of 2016, according to new figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The EIA published this announcement in its new ‘US Fuel Ethanol Plant Production Report’.

Total capacity of operable ethanol plants increased by more than 500 million gallons per year in January 2016 compared with January 2015.

‘Midwest region’

The majority of the 195 ethanol plants, and most of the US fuel ethanol production capacity, are located in the Midwest region (as defined by Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts), the report highlighted.

Total nameplate capacity in the Midwest was 13.5 billion gallons per year (883,000 bpd), an increase of more than 500 million gallons compared with 2015. Of the top 13 fuel ethanol-producing states, 12 are located in the Midwest.

Actual US production of fuel ethanol reached a total of 14.8 billion gallons (966,000 bpd) in 2015. In EIA's August Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), US production of fuel ethanol was forecast to reach 15.1 billion gallons (982,000 bpd) in 2016, equivalent to slightly more than 100% utilization of reported nameplate capacity as of 1 January, 2016.

Nameplate production capacity, the measure of capacity that EIA tracks, is the plant manufacturer's stated design capacity to produce denatured (made unfit for human consumption) fuel ethanol during a 12-month period. However, nameplate capacity is not a physical production limit for many ethanol plants, the EIA said in a statement.

The EIA said that by applying more efficient operating techniques, many ethanol plants are capable of being operated at levels that regularly exceed their nameplate production capacity, if market conditions provide an incentive to do so. This level of operation, called maximum sustainable capacity, is inherently subjective.

This story was written by Liz Gyekye, editor of Biofuels International.