How much oil can ethanol really displace?
Research has determined that 1 barrel of ethanol (1 barrel = 42 gallons) can displace 1.2 barrels of petroleum at the refinery. Current ethanol production of 5.4 billion gallons per year reduces the need to import 46.7 million barrels of foreign oil per year. This is a small percentage, but a critically important one. Every gallon of ethanol we can make and use means we are less dependent upon oil and more dependent upon clean, renewable, homegrown energy sources.
