USDA GAIN Report Outlines Status of Spain's Ethanol Industry

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The UDSA Foreign Agricultural Service recently published a Global Agricultural Information Network report outlining Spain’s ethanol industry. The report,” titled “Spain’s Bioethanol Standing Report,” notes that the country is one of the top four ethanol producers and consumers in the EU.
According to the report, Spain has to import between 9 and 13 million metric tons of grain annually to meet the needs of its livestock sector and ethanol industry, which consumes approximately 1 million metric tons of feedstock.
The report specifies that Spain’s ethanol industry will face new challenges in 2013, including the end of the hydrocarbon tax exemption for biofuel. Ethanol will also be subject to sustainability requirements.
...Abengoa owns three of the first generation plants, and the cellulosic pilot facility. Accionia-Uriel investments owns the fifth plant, which produces ethanol from raw wine alcohol produced in domestic alcohol distilleries. According to the GAIN report, approximately 80 percent of installed capacity is currently in operation. READ MORE