Ethanol production plants must undergo a strict and complex permitting and compliance process before they are built. Additionally, they are subject to inspections and evaluations to ensure that they maintain ongoing compliance in a complex and ever changing regulatory structure.

A modern dry mill ethanol plant produces 2.8 gallons of ethanol from one bushel of corn. But ethanol plants don’t make just ethanol.

According to the Renewable Fuels Association (www.ethanolrfa.org), ethanol plants can be found in the following states, listed in descending order according to their total ethanol production capacity:

Current U.S. Ethanol Production

U.S. ethanol production has grown significantly in recent years. In 2007, 139 ethanol plants in 21 states produced a record 6.5 billion gallons of ethanol—an increase of more than 130 % since 2003. (Source: Renewable Fuels Association)