|
Ethanol
Ethanol is made from corn, a renewable resource, and a crop grown in abundance in North Dakota. North Dakota's 2007 corn crop yielded 275 million bushels. Here is a breakdown of where our corn usage for ethanol will be by 2009.
Walhalla + Grafton 10 million bu
Blue Flint 20 million bu
Red Traill 20 million bu
Hankinson 35 million bu *2008
Casselton 35 million bu *2008
Spiritwood 35 million bu *2009
155 million bu for ethanol by 2009
Ethanol is available in either a lower level blend (10%) or a high level blend (85%). Corn based E85 fuel has been found to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as much as 39% to 46% compared to gasoline. For more information on ethanol go to http://www.e85fuel.com/ or http://www.ethanol.org/ or www.ethanolrfa.org.
10% blended ethanol is widely available in North Dakota. Go to http://www.e85fuel.com/ for a complete listing of all the stations in the US that carry E85.
There are several automobile models (1997-2006) of flexible fuel vehicles that can run on any mixture of ethanol up to 85%. Go to http://www.e85fuel.com/ for a complete listing of flexible fuel vehicles.
Ethanol Reduces Average Gas Price by 30 Cents per Gallon, According to Analysis
A recent scientific analysis, “Ethanol and Gasoline Prices” by economist John Urbanchuk, concluded that motorists would be facing much higher gas prices if not for the contribution of ethanol to the U.S. fuel supply. Without ethanol, consumers would likely pay an additional 30 cents per gallon for gas, according to the analysis.
“We’re experiencing historically low gasoline inventories, and at the same time gasoline consumption is increasing,” said National Corn Growers CEO Rick Tolman. “On top of that, OPEC-determined crude oil prices continue to trend upward. It all adds up to sky-high prices at the pump and consumers are beginning to wonder just how high prices will go. Fortunately, ethanol is helping to conserve the U.S. gasoline supply by adding more than 3 billion gallons annually to the fuels market.”
Some of the highlights from Urbanchuk’s report are:
- Without ethanol, gas prices would increase 14.6 percent, or 30.2 cents per gallon in the short term (including the entire summer driving season).
- Without ethanol, gas prices would increase 3.7 percent, or 7.6 cents per gallon, in the long term once refiners build new capacity or secure alternative sources of supply.
- More than 30 percent of all U.S. gasoline is blended with ethanol.
- Without ethanol, refiners would be forced to import about 217,000 barrels per day of high-octane, gasoline blending components.
|
