Year-round E15 Needed as Latest Data Shows Record Ethanol Production Driven by Exports, Not Domestic Use
February 28, 2025
Contact: Emma Koehler
515-322-0435
WEST DES MOINES, IA – Today the U.S. Energy Information Administration released final data showing U.S. ethanol production hit a record of 16.22 billion gallons in 2024. This is up more than 600 gallons over 2023. Additionally, ethanol exports increased more than 500 million gallons in 2024 compared to 2023. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Executive Director Monte Shaw made the following statement:
“It’s never a bad thing to have record ethanol production and we are grateful for that. Yet almost all of the growth came from exports. While we work to grow exports, domestic demand is the bedrock of a stable marketplace. This clearly highlights the need for nationwide, year-round E15. E15 will unlock a 7-billion gallon per year market opportunity for ethanol, thereby spurring American energy dominance.
“Farmers have suffered through two years of record income declines and just yesterday USDA projected a record corn crop again for 2025. America needs to grind more corn. E15 is the only large, near-term opportunity to accomplish that. Famers want markets, not bailouts. Congress needs to finish the work President Trump started in 2019, and allow nationwide, year-round E15. No more delays. The time is now.”
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association represents the state’s liquid renewable fuels industry and works to foster its growth. Iowa is the nation’s leader in renewable fuels production with 42 ethanol refineries capable of producing 4.7 billion gallons annually – including 34 million gallons of annual cellulosic ethanol production capacity – and 10 biodiesel facilities with the capacity to produce 416 million gallons annually. For more information, visit the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association website at: www.IowaRFA.org.
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