US monthly ethanol and advanced biofuel output higher in October
EPA: U.S. output of ethanol, advanced biofuels rose in October
US ethanol and advanced biofuel monthly production increased in October, according to US Environmental Protection Agency data Thursday.
US ethanol production — categorized by the EPA in the renewable fuel (D6) category consisting of corn-based ethanol, the main type produced in the US — rebounded from the previous month’s lowest recorded level as it climbed 71.629 million gallons, or 7.3%, to 1.055 billion gallons, according to the EPA data, on the agency’s Moderated Tracking System website.
Year-to-date, current year ethanol production totaled 10.884 billion gallons. The 2012 ethanol production target for the Renewable Fuels Standard-2 mandate is 11.7 billion gallons. With only two months left in 2012, year-to-date ethanol production is at 93% of the 2012 mandate target.
October advanced biofuel (D5) production — mostly comprising ethanol derived from feedstock sugarcane — edged up 98,212 gallons, or 0.1%, to 77.497 million gallons. Year-to-date, however, current year production was at only 392.846 million gallons.
The 2012 advanced biofuel target for the Renewable Fuels Standard-2 is 2 billion gallons, which means that total domestic advanced biofuel production in 2012 was at 19.6% of the mandate target.
Although domestic advanced biofuel production faces a tough challenge the rest of the year to catch up to the mandate, imports from Brazil, where ethanol is derived from feedstock sugarcane, can help meet the mandate target.
