Demand for ethanol will drive U.S. corn production to 14 billion-plus bushels by 2016 — with 30.7 percent of that used to produce about 12 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol, says the Department of Agriculture. By comparison, corn production in 2006 totaled 10.5 billion bushels, 20.5 percent of which went toward ethanol.
USDA says biodiesel production capacity and output will rise rapidly again in 2007-2008, followed by several years of slower growth, with a projected high of 700 million gallons. At that level, biodiesel would be eating up 23 percent of soybean oil production while providing less than 2 percent of the diesel used on U.S. highways.
Even at the insane 2016 levels projected by USDA, ethanol would account for less than 8 percent of annual U.S. gasoline consumption. The USDA numbers also assume that cellulosic-based renewables will hit the 250-million-gallon minimum set for 2013 by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. They do not take into account the president's renewable fuel target of 35 billion gallons by 2017. Of course, if the Agriculture Department is ignoring the president, maybe we should too.
[Source: USDA via Green Car Congress]
