official state of nebraska website

Ethanol–Blended Fuel Consumption in Nebraska

In Nebraska, most ethanol is sold in a blended fuel—10 percent ethanol with 90 percent gasoline (called E–10) or 85 percent ethanol with 15 percent gasoline (called E85). Ethanol–blended fuel consumption in 2011 was 662,948,096 gallons, which was an increase of 3 percent from consumption in 2010 of 641,512,693 gallons. The report on motor gasoline consumption has additional information in relation to ethanol–blended fuel consumption.

Annual Data

As reflected in the graph below, annual consumption fell sharply after 1992 when a state tax exemption was removed and the ethanol–blended fuel price had risen slightly. As more ethanol plants began operations in the mid– to late 1990s, fuel availability increased, and consumption began rising. Consumption fell in 2001 during a period when the ethanol rack price was rising faster than the gasoline rack price. Consumption increased significantly from 2001 to 2005 due to the increased availability of ethanol–blended fuel and a favorable price structure. A possible factor in the reduced consumption during 2006 was the price premium of ethanol to gasoline. During 2007, additional operating capacity came on line, ethanol prices fell, and consumption resumed its climb. Consumption rose during 2008 while corn prices fell. In the fall of 2009, expectations for a record corn harvest came to fruition. Corn and ethanol prices felt the impact and were pushed lower. Even with the expectations and then the actual harvest record, annual consumption of ethanol–blended fuel for 2009 was only eight percent less than 2008.

Monthly Data

Ethanol–blended fuel consumption is 2 percent higher than last year. As of November 2012, consumption for the year totaled 623,693,740 gallons while consumption during the same time period in 2011 totaled 609,818,680 gallons. Consumption for November 2012 was 49,900,030 gallons, which was 11.7 percent lower than consumption in the same month in 2011. As shown in the graph below, November's consumption was 6 percent lower than consumption during the previous month.

2009

Monthly consumption during 2009 was equivalent to 2007 levels and yet not as high as 2008. Even as the corn harvest was projected to be a record high and prices of corn and ethanol felt a downward push, ethanol–blended fuel consumption did not experience growth.

2008

Consumption was higher than previous years and continued to steadily rise during the first seven months of 2008.

2007

Consumption during 2007 returned to levels that hadn't been seen since 2005 due to price increases in gasoline.

2006

Consumption decreased from the beginning of 2006 to March and was offset by an increase in gasoline consumption during the same period. This was possibly due to the increase in the price of ethanol. April and May consumption were up, but June and July showed steep decreases in consumption. Consumption from August to December bounded back up over 40 million gallons.

2005

From March to June 2005, ethanol's rack price actually fell below gasoline's rack price which resulted in increased consumption during those months. The increased consumption spurred an increase in price, but consumption continued to increase through July and August. An increase in consumption or demand is also reflected in the reported miles traveled. The graph below shows a drop in consumption traditionally in September of each year and that level maintained through October, November, and December. Consumption in December 2005 shows a bit sharper increase from prior years.

Ethanol–Blended Fuel Consumption in Nebraska, 1978 – 2012

(Gallons)
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
Total
1978 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19,333 19,333 19,333 57,999
1979 1,068,164 0 0 0 1,757,392 552,904 943,104 873,087 999,725 866,592 0 990,134 8,051,102
1980 1,729,366 1,958,484 2,963,306 2,727,872 2,968,459 2,616,052 2,778,698 2,373,944 2,823,324 2,485,561 2,347,214 2,897,902 30,670,182
1981 2,586,244 2,368,455 2,466,757 2,392,436 2,476,354 2,659,618 2,675,807 2,526,808 2,609,210 2,930,853 2,980,800 3,967,663 32,641,005
1982 3,934,681 4,403,528 5,251,323 5,420,056 5,054,300 6,510,114 7,679,015 9,764,077 11,074,875 11,712,491 12,091,557 12,908,471 95,804,488
1983 11,817,600 11,442,254 13,953,700 13,172,077 14,950,552 17,040,747 15,508,525 18,664,762 19,987,617 17,918,818 18,352,505 20,227,825 193,036,982
1984 16,873,589 15,816,386 16,167,944 16,255,184 18,573,157 19,724,366 18,677,806 19,875,389 17,997,917 18,921,612 19,939,080 19,225,038 218,047,468
1985 18,950,888 18,093,172 20,700,127 20,819,231 24,362,537 23,708,613 22,168,589 22,928,935 21,485,334 21,493,653 21,476,332 21,264,782 257,452,193
1986 20,350,324 17,569,467 21,690,442 21,344,446 20,777,823 19,962,218 18,931,659 17,884,460 17,232,665 20,080,688 16,716,134 21,845,740 234,386,066
1987 18,604,146 18,669,026 22,190,117 21,235,787 23,291,871 23,414,711 23,745,162 21,575,257 21,297,481 22,834,425 20,340,398 23,550,718 260,749,099
1988 21,065,247 21,067,412 21,681,793 21,206,724 24,386,465 25,944,291 24,203,431 25,156,997 23,596,653 24,259,670 23,793,768 24,214,690 280,577,141
1989 21,573,938 22,228,065 25,284,865 23,599,917 25,701,621 28,494,768 24,448,563 27,470,175 24,687,660 25,739,153 27,074,565 28,796,389 305,099,679
1990 23,649,575 24,042,158 29,120,670 26,650,892 29,276,343 28,500,231 29,706,840 29,929,737 27,137,586 30,226,209 29,678,425 30,848,907 338,767,573
1991 25,644,690 26,953,044 30,250,832 31,885,111 34,212,039 32,742,816 35,028,773 32,891,354 32,934,378 34,485,912 30,725,362 34,217,600 381,971,911
1992 31,577,394 31,071,713 33,149,457 32,916,294 34,831,723 33,325,481 34,053,785 34,027,357 32,720,797 34,503,895 32,289,994 34,724,034 399,191,924
1993 29,591,383 21,891,614 25,545,533 24,852,297 22,616,874 21,763,820 22,320,342 21,435,018 21,398,836 20,307,015 22,910,885 24,327,142 278,960,759
1994 18,702,730 18,148,793 20,207,292 17,842,153 17,892,052 18,411,653 20,990,812 19,481,971 19,340,666 19,143,109 20,165,344 20,476,156 230,802,731
1995 20,707,835 17,432,627 19,937,401 18,454,464 22,585,886 24,232,848 18,813,263 18,419,276 18,273,888 19,049,806 19,517,847 20,602,380 238,027,521
1996 19,137,799 17,484,500 17,563,456 17,030,403 16,648,185 16,348,416 15,785,938 14,499,916 11,483,199 12,715,309 12,846,771 12,359,452 183,903,344
1997 16,971,973 15,512,309 17,848,783 17,466,005 17,510,839 16,940,238 18,514,696 17,071,864 16,153,363 19,384,686 16,089,398 16,786,708 206,250,862
1998 15,588,895 13,160,621 15,156,375 16,120,725 16,854,218 17,153,158 16,812,748 16,168,959 15,465,606 15,996,639 14,910,437 16,568,424 189,956,805
1999 15,920,092 13,865,697 16,254,811 15,076,894 16,389,825 17,430,520 17,041,060 17,134,706 16,994,815 20,769,250 21,430,879 25,370,165 213,678,714
2000 21,108,109 22,237,506 24,730,798 23,325,891 25,664,454 26,318,387 26,781,818 27,184,022 25,024,954 25,127,670 24,963,586 22,986,152 295,453,347
2001 16,877,487 15,409,058 17,718,206 21,610,976 22,913,233 22,315,821 20,152,146 20,393,535 19,589,697 19,512,332 18,667,202 23,103,569 238,263,262
2002 21,819,995 21,172,899 24,385,958 25,613,389 28,833,247 29,050,982 30,399,250 30,238,576 26,336,430 29,647,720 28,896,818 28,869,922 325,265,186
2003 28,534,937 27,155,115 31,005,147 30,585,509 32,968,864 31,832,541 34,123,134 34,094,876 32,464,044 33,191,123 27,952,644 25,102,715 369,010,649
2004 26,767,371 29,583,449 32,838,149 28,265,116 32,558,480 31,063,792 36,036,789 34,638,460 35,307,182 35,749,876 32,113,130 34,770,572 389,692,366
2005 31,904,401 31,800,282 41,175,476 43,315,467 49,366,440 50,754,210 51,465,240 53,153,508 41,077,958 40,349,487 38,793,455 46,222,257 519,378,181
2006 40,943,455 36,756,167 28,940,132 37,462,684 37,568,906 20,983,034 16,686,544 49,848,839 41,385,962 43,737,099 44,118,145 42,209,464 440,640,431
2007 31,413,965 33,618,516 39,882,857 43,590,406 47,624,546 48,875,845 50,578,704 50,024,984 46,754,059 50,738,400 49,114,037 50,939,099 543,155,418
2008 46,795,310 45,018,888 49,046,277 49,225,434 53,788,702 52,107,560 59,455,303 57,967,036 55,296,189 54,778,218 40,972,695 39,311,225 603,876,294
2009 37,139,509 36,002,795 42,374,536 44,050,625 48,412,530 50,837,105 53,642,667 49,566,234 49,910,852 48,889,983 47,881,130 48,081,130 556,789,096
2010 45,170,124 43,973,779 48,284,549 50,126,468 53,477,667 53,430,504 61,250,158 58,483,392 54,825,769 58,603,854 50,892,910 62,993,519 641,512,693
2011 52,601,492 49,411,319 56,725,955 53,522,270 55,252,720 58,109,336 56,773,670 58,052,062 60,393,544 52,438,221 56,538,091 53,129,416 662,948,096
2012 50,005,602 54,998,003 57,184,979 58,860,770 60,731,083 62,347,546 56,208,540 65,090,438 55,105,221 53,261,528 49,900,030 NA NA

Sources: "Monthly Motor–Fuel Consumption." Nebraska Department of Revenue, Motor Fuels Division, Lincoln, NE. Nebraska Energy Office, Lincoln, NE.

Notes: NA indicates data is not available. Numbers in red have been revised.

The annual graph was updated on April 24, 2012. Typically, there is one year between updates.
The monthly graph was updated on February 22, 2013. Typically, there is one month between updates.
This table was updated on February 22, 2013. Typically, there is one month between updates.