Hurdles to blending more ethanol remain

Agriculture Online

Dan Looker
Successful Farming magazine Business Editor
8/15/2008, 8:51 AM CDT

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 will require the nation's oil industry to blend 36 billion gallons of ethanol into the fuel supply by 2022. If federal incentives bring the necessary research breakthroughs, more than half of that will come from cellulosic ethanol made from wood, corn cobs, switchgrass and other plant materials. Some 15 billion gallons will be from corn ethanol.

There's just one problem.

If most of the cars on the road can burn only E-10 (gasoline with 10% ethanol), there won't be anyplace to go with all that ethanol. The Department of Energy estimates that by 2013, or even earlier, the market for E-10 in the U.S. will be saturated.

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