A year ago, I wrote a <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/blog/article/2013/04/geeking-out-over-corn-oil-utilization-numbers" target="_blank">blog about my geek status</a>.&nbsp;At the time, I had just written a <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/9755/corn-oil-makes-the-grade" target="_blank">story about corn oil extraction</a> and I was facinated by both the topic and all the relevant numbers.
This year, for our corn oil issue, my colleague Chris Hanson wrote about <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/10920/ready-markets-soak-up-corn-oil" target="_blank">corn oil markets</a>&nbsp;and I wrote about a <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/10921/beyond-corn-oil-extraction" target="_blank">new corn oil separation technology</a>. &nbsp;I couldn&rsquo;t help but be drawn to those alluring numbers in his story, once again.
So, to expand on Hanson&rsquo;s story, here are a few <a href="http://www.eia.gov/biofuels/biodiesel/production/table3.pdf" target="_blank">fun facts about corn oil as a biodiesel feedstock</a>, courtesy of the U.S. Energy Information Administration.&nbsp; In 2011, there were six other biodiesel inputs that had higher totals than corn oil. (Including alcohol, a non-feedstock input.)Only 304 million pounds of corn oil was used in biodiesel production.
By the next year, the amount of corn oil had more than doubled to 646 million pounds. In fact, corn oil was the 2012 No. 4 most popular input, behind soybeans, canola oil and yellow grease.
The leap was even more impressive from 2012 to 2013. A total of 1.049 billion pounds of corn oil was turned into biodiesel last year, making it the second most popular feedstock on the list. Only soybean oil, which was king in 2011, 2012 and 2013, was used more often than corn oil.
For giggles, I checked out other biodiesel feedstocks. You know, keep an eye on the competition. I discovered that yellow grease is another growing biodiesel input. In 2011, 471 million pounds of yellow grease went into biodiesel. By 2012 that number had grown to 670 pounds, just 24 million pounds more than the total for corn oil that year. Last year, 977 million pounds of yellow grease was used, 72 million pounds less than corn oil.
Soybean oil, on the other hand, held steady around 4 billion pounds in 2011 and 2012, but went up to more than 5.4 billion pounds last year. There would have to be a big change in soybean oil and corn oil price or availability for corn oil to pass up that feedstock anytime soon! Canola oil has dropped steadily in the last three years, by 50 million and more than 100 million pounds a year, respectively.&nbsp;&nbsp;
I started writing for Ethanol Producer Magazine in January of 2010, at that time not many ethanol producers were extracting corn oil. Now, at least 90 percent of ethanol producers are and there are new tricks and technologies for getting at the corn oil more efficiently. Including <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/10918/optimizing-for-more-oil" target="_blank">chemical and enzymatic aids to increase yield</a>. &nbsp;And, a couple of ethanol plants are moving forward with building onsite <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/10917/biodiesel-coming-soon-to-an-ethanol-plant-near-you" target="_blank">biodiesel plants to convert corn oil</a> to another renewable fuel.&nbsp;I <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/8472/golden-possibilities">wrote about that concept</a> back in early 2012, and it&rsquo;s exciting to see it become a reality.
I have to say, it&rsquo;s been fun following along as all this develops. You know, fun for a geek like me.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

The recently competed May issue of Ethanol Producer Magazine has a corn oil theme. The stories cover the corn oil market, a new separations technology, extraction aids and co-located biodiesel production at ethanol plants. 

Corn oil brings out the geek in me

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