GFAI holds ethanol economics seminar

Hauser, head of the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign UIUC) along with fellow UIUC professsor
Darrel Good, spoke to a group of 50 members of the Grain and Feed Association of
Illinois (GFAI) attending the seminar on August 13.

Five
factors
Hauser said there are five factors that determine the future
viability of the dry mill ethanol industry:
• Subsidies. The level of federal
subsidies will be a significant factor in the level of ethanol production.
•
RFS. The renewable fuels standard must be maintained.
• Blends. Fuel blends
could play a significant role if increased above 10% ethanol.
• Tariffs.
Maintain existing policies that provide U.S. producers an even laying field.

• Cellulosic ethanol. The industry is still waiting for breakthroughs in
this area.

Hauser said little is known about the economics of producing
ethanol from cellulosic material because it hasn’t been tried on a commercial
scale as yet. He said that early studies indicate that ethanol can be produced
for 60 to 90 cents more per gallon when using miscanthus instead of corn.

Related folder:
Dossier AllAbout Bio Energy

Related
website:
GFAI

Source:
Grainnet.com