NCGA, Ethanol Industry Mark Opening of 100th Ethanol Plant (5-30-06)

National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) members and ethanol producers recognized a milestone last week as Frontier Ethanol in Gowrie, Iowa, became the 100th ethanol plant to open in the United States.

“The opening of the 100th ethanol plant is truly a remarkable accomplishment for corn growers and the renewable fuels industry,” said NCGA Ethanol Committee Chairman Bruce Noel. “Just six years ago, there were 50 plants capable of producing 1.7 billion gallons. Now, we’ve double the number of plants and are on our way to tripling capacity. The growth of the industry reflects the fact that ethanol is part of the solution to our nation’s energy needs.”

According to the Renewable Fuels Association, there are 33 plants under construction and eight plants expanding capacity. The Frontier plant brings the industry’s total capacity up to more than 4.7 billion gallons. The plants under construction and expanding will bring capacity up to more than 6.7 billion gallons.

Frontier Ethanol is expected to process 21 million bushels of corn into 60 million gallons of ethanol annually.

Corn growers will easily meet the demand for ethanol production. The U.S. Department of Agriculture projects corn growers will harvest 10.55 billion bushels in 2006. Though that number is down from last year’s 11.112 billion bushels, corn growers carried over more than 2.4 billion bushels to this year. Ethanol production may consume approximately 1.8 billion bushels of corn this marketing year.

“There will not be a shortage of corn,” Noel said. “Corn growers are confident we will continue to produce a crop capable of supplying all of our markets: ethanol plants, livestock, exports and food.”