There are over 200 ethanol plants operating in the U.S. producing about 16 Billion gallons for use as a source of clean, renewable octane in our motor fuel. On average, gasoline across America contains 10% ethanol, with some higher blends such as E15 (15% ethanol) and E85 (85% ethanol) available in many markets. In addition, demand for U.S. produced ethanol is growing around the globe, with many countries recognizing its benefits.
In addition to ethanol, most plants across the country produce high value co products that are used in the feed and energy markets. Dried distillers grains (DDGS) is a high protein, high fiber feed product used in most animal rations across the country and the globe. Distillers Corn Oil (DCO) is produced at many facilities, and it used in both the feed industry and can also be refined into bio diesel.
Over the past 20 years, the ethanol industry has grown substantially, and has greatly reduced energy consumption. With improvements in efficiencies, natural gas and electrical usage have declined over 40%. Better technologies have allowed for more recycling of water, reducing the amount necessary to produce a gallon of ethanol by 66%. And the amount of ethanol produced from a bushel of corn has increased almost 15%.