Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Renewable Fuel Standard ...
Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Renewable Fuel Standard ...
Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Renewable Fuel Standard ...
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production/technologies, refer to Section 7.1.2 <strong>of</strong> the Draft Regulatory Impact Analysis<br />
(DRIA).<br />
The ethanol production process is relatively resource-intensive <strong>and</strong> requires the<br />
use <strong>of</strong> water, electricity <strong>and</strong> steam. Steam needed to heat the process is generally<br />
produced onsite or by other dedicated boilers. Of today’s 102 ethanol production<br />
facilities, 98 burn natural gas, 2 burn coal, 1 burns coal <strong>and</strong> biomass, <strong>and</strong> 1 burns syrup<br />
from the process to produce steam. A summary <strong>of</strong> ethanol production by plant energy<br />
source is found below in Table VI.A.1-2.<br />
Table VI.A.1-2<br />
2006 U.S. Ethanol Production by Energy Source<br />
Capacity % <strong>of</strong> No. <strong>of</strong> % <strong>of</strong><br />
Energy Source MMGal/yr Capacity Plants Plants<br />
Natural Gas a<br />
4,671 95.9% 98 96.1%<br />
Coal 102 2.1% 2 2.0%<br />
Coal & Biomass 50 1.0% 1 1.0%<br />
Syrup 49 1.0% 1 1.0%<br />
Total 4,872 100.0% 102 100.0%<br />
a Includes a natural gas facility which is considering transitioning to coal<br />
Currently, 7 <strong>of</strong> the 102 ethanol plants utilize co-generation or combined heat <strong>and</strong><br />
power (CHP) technology. CHP is a mechanism for improving overall plant efficiency.<br />
CHP facilities produce their own electricity (or coordinate with the local municipality)<br />
<strong>and</strong> use otherwise-wasted exhaust gases to help heat their process, reducing the overall<br />
dem<strong>and</strong> for boiler fuel.<br />
The majority <strong>of</strong> ethanol is produced in the Midwest within PADD 2 – not<br />
surprisingly, where most <strong>of</strong> the corn is grown. Of the 102 U.S. ethanol production<br />
facilities, 93 are located in Midwest. The PADD 2 facilities account for about 97 percent<br />
(or 4.7 billion gallons per year) <strong>of</strong> the total domestic ethanol production, as shown in<br />
Table VI.A.1-3<br />
Table VI.A.1-3<br />
2006 U.S. Ethanol Production by PADD<br />
Capacity % <strong>of</strong> No. <strong>of</strong> % <strong>of</strong><br />
PADD<br />
MMgal/yr Capacity Plants Plants<br />
PADD 1 0.4 0.0% 1 1.0%<br />
PADD 2 4,710 96.7% 93 91.2%<br />
PADD 3 30 0.6% 1 1.0%<br />
PADD 4 98 2.0% 4 3.9%<br />
PADD 5 34 0.7% 3 2.9%<br />
Total 4,872 100.0% 102 100.0%<br />
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