North Dakota Energy Spotlight – Ethanol

• North Dakota’s ethanol industry has an annual production capacity of 400 million gallons per year – a more than 10-fold  increase since 2005.

• ND ethanol generates more than $300 million in economic activity each year and directly employs 250 workers across the state with an average wage of $64,000.

• Approximately 150 million bushels of corn are used annually, with more than 80 percent of the corn purchased from North Dakota farmers.

• North Dakota has five ethanol plants, located in rural communities with populations of less than 2,500 people. These facilities each employ an average of 51 employees and generate an annual average payroll of $3.3 million.

• One-third of every bushel of grain used for ethanol production returns to the animal feed market in the form of dried distillers grains (DDGs). More than 1.2 million tons of DDGs are produced in the state annually.

• North Dakota experienced record E-85 sales in 2011, with a 100 percent increase over 2010 and 380 percent increase over 2009.

• As of December 2011, North Dakota had 221 ethanol flex fuel pumps applied for or installed at 67 stations in 44 communities, making the state a leader in the nation.

• Approximately six percent of the ethanol produced annually in North Dakota is blended with gasoline and sold within the state. The remaining 94 percent is shipped primarily to the east or west coast.

• In a modern ethanol facility, one bushel of corn produces 2.8 gallons of ethanol and 18 pounds of co-products, including dried distillers grains, CO2 and corn oil.

*ADM in Walhalla has announced the plant will close effective April 2012.

Read the full report of Great Plains Energy Corridor Spotlight on North Dakota Energy and request a hard copy here.

You may be interested in:
North Dakota Ethanol Council