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Published on: Monday February 18th, 2008
The limitless potential of scientists and engineers in the biofuels community to
develop the technologies necessary to produce large volumes of ethanol and other
biofuels from a wide range of feedstocks is awe-inspiring. The amount of intellectual
capital being put to work improving efficiencies, developing new processes and perfecting
today’s technologies far exceeds the financial capital that is supporting the rapid
evolution of the industry.
While this is a critical component to the advance of biofuels across the globe,
so too is the investment in the infrastructure necessary to deliver product to the
marketplace. In the United States, with an accelerated commitment to biofuels now
law, those investments are being made and growth of ethanol as major component of
our nation’s motor fuel supply is under way.
In major fuel markets all across the country – from Los Angeles to Houston to Atlanta,
Washington, D.C, New York City and Boston – ethanol receiving, storage and blending
infrastructure is rapidly under development. Terminals are in operation or under
construction today that can handle unit trains of ethanol – trains consisting of
nothing but tanker cars full of ethanol – with increased efficiency. One such terminal
located in Baltimore, Maryland, will soon be able to unload 20 cars of ethanol,
each containing 30,000 gallons, every three hours.
© Ethanol Statistics 2008
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