Biofuels bioethanol, corn

The U.S. bioethanol industry is growing rapidly. Production in 2007 was 6.5 billion gallons from 139 bioethanol refineries. A further 4 billion gallons of capacity are expected to come online by the end of 2008. In 2006,14% of the corn crop in the United States was used to produce ethanol and probably as a result, com prices increased by 25% in 2007. In the United States 90 plants operated in 2006 and 160 in 2007. Just in Iowa, 42 ethanol and biodiesel plants are in operation and an additional 18 are under construction. A study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development calculated that in order to meet 10% of the fuel requirements of the United States, Canada, and the EU, 30% to 70% of their crop area would have to be devoted to biofuels. 

The significant advances that have been made in the implementation of the biorefinery concept with the production of biofuels, such as bioethanol and biodiesel from sugar cane, corn starch and plant oils, have set a solid foundation for the expansion of the concept into other applications such as chemicals and will help to reach the goal of integrated biorefineries. 

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