The ethanol industry is one of the most significant success stories in American manufacturing over the past quarter-century. From a cottage industry that produced 175 million gallons in 1980, the American ethanol industry is poised to produce nearly 13 billion gallons in 2010. The structure of the ethanol industry has changed dramatically over the past 15 years. In 1991, 35 plants produced 865 million gallons of ethanol. Two-thirds of capacity was accounted for by wet mill plants that had an average capacity of 96 million gallons per year (MGY). The 20 operating dry mill plants had an average capacity of 16.5 MGY. Currently, the ethanol industry is comprised of more than 200 plants with an annual capacity of nearly 13.5 billion gallons. Dry mill plants account for more than 70 percent of capacity and virtually all new ethanol plants being built today are dry mills using grain as a feedstock or second-generation plants designed to produce ethanol from Advanced Biofuel Feed stocks or cellulose. Growth in U.S. ethanol production over the past twenty-five years is illustrated. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive overview of the state of the U.S. ethanol industry and to outline the major forces that will affect the development of the industry over the next decade.
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