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Biofuel powers on in US
18.05.2010 12:42 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
US ETHANOL production has cracked the 40-billion-litre mark, displacing about 364 million barrels of imported oil, according to a new report.
The Renewable Fuels Associations annual industry report shows US ethanol now accounts for more than half the worlds production of the biofuel.
The Climate of Opportunity report showed the US increased its ethanol production during the past year by 5.2 billion litres, with another 19 refineries coming into production.
There are an estimated 189 refineries in the US with capacity to produce 45 billion litres of ethanol.
By comparison, Australia only produces 215 million litres of ethanol.
The American ethanol industry now underpins corn prices in the US and, with government backing, has reduced US reliance on imports of oil from the volatile Middle East region.
In reference to claims the US ethanol industry was diverting valuable corn away from food to fuel-production, the RFA said energy prices, not biofuels, drove food-price increases.
But the US biofuel industry is now looking at developing ethanol from other sources, such as cellulosic compounds. The RFA report identified 28 cellulose ethanol projects under development and construction in the US, most proposing to produce the biofuel from crop straw, wood, corn or sugar waste but also including municipal solid waste as a substrate.
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