Ethanol: production, demand and changing land use

Drovers.com
John Maday Tuesday, August 18, 2009

We’re using more ethanol, and using more corn in the process. Future growth of ethanol production, however, will depend on new technology to allow a shift away from corn, and other changes to affect demand, according to an article from the USDA’s Economic Research Service.

The article, in the agency’s new issue of Amber Waves, notes that the role of ethanol in the U.S. gasoline supply has grown from just over 1 percent in 2000 to 7 percent in 2008. The increased use of ethanol was fueled by a combination of market conditions and policy factors, including rising oil prices, Federal tax credits, the first Renewable Fuel Standard established under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and the elimination of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) as an oxygenating gasoline additive.

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