I am curious about the current cost of producing ethanol from corn. Despite an exhaustive search over the web, I have been unable to find recent (or unambiguous) data.

What is the typical cost, either for Illinois or a regional average? Does the reported value typicall include only feedstock and operating costs for processing, or also the contribution of capital costs for the ethanol plants?

Regards, Pat MacDaniel

You inquired about the cost of production for ethanol, which will vary from company to company, depending on the cost of feedstock, such as corn, as well as economy of scale. For example, ADM will have a much lower cost compared to some smaller scale farmer cooperatives.

The Renewable Fuels Association is the industry association that can best provide the information that you need. Its website is: http://www.ethanolrfa.org/

I was unable to locate the aforementioned information on that website. Furthermore, the site was essentially pure pro-ethanol propaganda, and just about as far away from the unambiguous, objective viewpoint that Mr. MacDaniel requested as possible. I can only hope you made that reccomendation in error, and not as a legitimate answer to his question. While also completely un-objective, this site gives some of the information which your website omitted: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050329132436.htm I have yet to find the data in question myself.

Agreed,

I read the article steve submitted with interest. However that article comes from essentially pure anti-ethanol propaganda. The " green" groups. Tend to be anti-. It is hard to find a truly neutral viewpoint. Here is a link to a U.S. government study. This shows the other end of the spectrum. It puts the total cost of ethanol at approximatelly $.90 per gallon. The Costs of producing the corn that is hyped in your article are accounted for allready in what is paid to the farmer per bushel of corn. Approximatelly $2.30 per bushel. At any rate you can never take one side of the story. Here is another. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050329132436.htm