Study says Iowa’s ethanol industry could be hit hard without CCS

In Iowa, agricultural economic experts released a new study that found Iowa ethanol production is at a crossroads. Without viable access to carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), Iowa could see 75 percent of its ethanol production migrate to states that facilitate sequestration.

The study, conducted by Decision Innovation Solutions (DIS), determined that current market and policy dynamics would results in Iowa ethanol production becoming noncompetitive with catastrophic results for Iowa ethanol producers, Iowa farmers and the Iowa economy. The findings included:

·      Production will migrate out of state. By the end of the decade, Iowa ethanol production could contract by 75 percent (nearly 3.5 billion gallons per year) leading many plants to shut down.

·      Iowa farmers would lose local markets for over 1 billion bushels of corn annually, depressing local corn prices.

·      Iowa would realize an eventual decline in revenues from ethanol plants of more than $10 billion per year.