2014 really was an amazing year for ethanol production

In Illinois, researchers at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champagne have estimated that 2014 saw the ethanol industry’s best year for profitability, until oil prices came crashing down. Using models based on an “average” ethanol plant, despite having a huge price flux from $3.15 per gallon in March and falling to just $1.48 in October, collapsing corn prices point to the major reason that ethanol producers remained profitable during the year even as oil prices fell.