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Some of ethanol’s most vocal critics decry the industry because of the amount of water it uses. Research has shown, however, that ethanol plants on average have reduced their water needs by more than 20 percent in recent years, and industry experts expect that trend to continue.

Like a fluid line of credit at the bank, a steady and unhindered flow of water is critical for the efficient operation of an ethanol plant of any size. And just as interest on that credit varies depending on the unique circumstances of the individual plant, water, depending on its source, contains its own unique set of properties.

The amount of irrigation needed to grow feedstock for ethanol depends on what is being grown—and where.

Experts at the 4th World Biofuels Symposium offered their impressions of the global potential for ethanol, biodiesel and beyond.

As ethanol producers search for ways to ease the pain of economic asperity, fractionation could be the answer. Renew Energy LLC implemented Cereal Process Technologies LLC’s dry-fractionation system at its 130 MMgy ethanol plant in Jefferson, Wis., now the world’s largest corn dry-milling operation. EPM investigates the benefits of installing this system.

The ethanol industry isn't immune to the economic downturn and some wonder if consolidation is imminent. But, how would financially distressed plants be valued?