September 10 , 2007
Dear Fellow Nebraskans:
Nebraskan is experiencing extraordinary growth in the ethanol industry, which is good news for agriculture and good for our entire state.
In 1971, the Nebraska Legislature passed a bill creating the Nebraska Ethanol Board, which also provided the state’s first incentives for ethanol production. In 1985, the first commercial-size ethanol plant in Nebraska was built in Hastings, producing 12.5 million gallons annually.
More than 30 years later, Nebraska is home to 17 ethanol plants from Trenton to Blair and Minden to Plainview. Nebraska is on track to become the nation’s second largest producer of ethanol, and we expect to cross another major milestone before the end of year.
For the first time ever, Nebraska’s ethanol plants will exceed one billion gallons in production by the end of this year, and next year our production capacity is expected to double to more than two billion gallons annually, thanks to the addition of another 10 ethanol plants.
Among our plants is one of the nation’s largest biorefineries. Located in Blair, the facility produces a range of biomass-related byproducts. Nebraska is also home of the nation’s first closed-loop ethanol facility. The Mead plant was designed to use no fossil fuel in the production of ethanol and is a positive step for our environment. These projects demonstrate that Nebraska can be a leader in production while also being home to some of the most innovative and efficient plants in the country.
Today, Nebraska’s ethanol industry is responsible for creating hundreds, if not thousands of jobs. Ethanol production is the state’s second largest sector in the agriculture industry; second only to those who work in the livestock sector. This year, 27 percent of the state’s projected corn crop will flow into Nebraska’s ethanol plants. By 2008, nearly 54 percent of Nebraska’s projected corn crop will be used to produce ethanol. Each of these figures demonstrate ethanol’s role as a driver of our state economy.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Senate passed an expanded renewable fuels standard that would require the use of 36 billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2022. Of that total, 15 billion gallons will come from traditional feedstocks such as corn, and the balance will come from new feedstocks such as corn stover, wheat straw and others being developed from all corners of the nation.
Given the new possibilities in production and the ongoing research to develop cellulosic ethanol, the potential for ethanol to become a true national fuel is just around the corner. If the expanded renewable fuels standard approved by the Senate were passed by Congress, the potential for ethanol to make up more than 15 percent of the nation’s transportation fuel supply during the next decade will become a very real possibility.
Nebraska’s ethanol future is filled with promise. We have the crops and other feedstocks, livestock, water, and transportation necessary to support continued expansion of this industry. It’s good for rural Nebraska and it’s good for our nation.
Our ethanol industry is one of Nebraska’s greatest success stories because it combines two of our state’s largest industries: agriculture and manufacturing. It’s created jobs in more than a dozen small communities that helped ensure their growth.
The future for our ethanol industry is bright and my hope is that Nebraska can continue to maintain an edge in this industry by continuing investments in research that will make our plants even more efficient in the years to come.
