LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- For many years, ethanol opponents in the refining industry have called for the EPA to cut back on ethanol blending.

There just isn't enough gasoline consumed to be able to blend 15 billion gallons of ethanol annually, critics say, making their voices heard each time the agency holds public hearings on the Renewable Fuel Standard.

The latest U.S. Energy Information Administration data on transportation fuel consumption in the U.S. in 2021, however, paints a much different picture than refiners claim when they consistently call for ethanol blending below 10%.

Based on that analysis, DTN has ranked the 50 states and the District of Columbia by percentage of blend rates and uses total ethanol barrels consumed in each state as a tiebreaker to paint an interesting portrait geographically.

DTN's analysis of EIA data found an overall blending rate of 10.3% nationally, based on 332.01 million barrels of ethanol blended and consumed and about 3.2 billion barrels of gasoline.

In terms of gallons, the U.S. consumed 13.94 billion gallons of ethanol and 134.4 billion gallons of gasoline.

The EIA calculates ethanol and gasoline consumption in the commercial, industrial and transportation sectors, and not just from motor vehicles.

When you look inside the ethanol-blending rankings by state compiled by DTN, just nine states failed to blend ethanol at least at a 10% rate. That means more than 80% of the 50 states either hit or exceeded 10% ethanol blending in 2021.

According to DTN's analysis, Minnesota and Iowa were the top two ethanol-blending states by percentage, although the total ethanol blended in those states was on the lower end of the scale.

Minnesota recorded a 12.6% blend rate followed by Iowa at 11.6%. Despite leading the country, Minnesota consumed just 7.15 million barrels of ethanol in 2021.

Texas is ranked third in the DTN analysis at a 10.7% blending rate, leading a logjam of 13 states and the District of Columbia at that rate because of a nation-leading 35.46 million barrels of ethanol consumed in Texas. California is right behind Texas in the rankings, consuming 34.1 million barrels of ethanol.

When you cross-reference the 50-state rankings with the leading states by ethanol-production capacity, some interesting things emerge, https://www.statista.com/….

Assuming ethanol producers in Iowa and Minnesota produced at full capacity in 2021, both states were large net exporters of ethanol, as is the case with most top-producing states.

Iowa would have blended just 177.2 million gallons of its 4.68 billion gallons produced. Minnesota would have blended and consumed about 300.3 million gallons of its 1.37 billion gallons produced in 2021.

On the flip side, although Nebraska is the second-largest ethanol-producing state, it comes in at No. 45 in the DTN rankings for ethanol consumption with a 9.7% blend rate in 2021.

The Cornhusker State consumed about 86.5 million gallons of ethanol in 2021, although the state's production capacity was about 2.35 billion gallons.

Though the states of Illinois, Indiana, South Dakota, Ohio, Kansas, Wisconsin and North Dakota were among the top 10 ethanol-producing states in 2021, in addition to Iowa and Minnesota, only Illinois and Wisconsin were in the top 20 ethanol-blending states in 2021.

Top 50 States for Ethanol Blend Rates, 2021: (tiebreaks with total ethanol blended in barrels)

1. Minnesota - 12.6%: 7.15 million

2. Iowa - 11.6%: 4.22 million

3. Texas - 10.7%: 35.46 million

4. California - 10.7%: 34.1 million

5. New Jersey - 10.7%: 8.76 million

6. Arizona - 10.7%: 7.45 million

7. Washington - 10.7%: 6.45 million

8. Massachusetts - 10.7%: 6.23 million

9. Oregon - 10.7%: 3.8 million

10. Connecticut - 10.7%: 3.45 million

11. Nevada - 10.7%: 3 million

12. New Mexico - 10.7%: 2.58 million

13. Delaware - 10.7%: 1.24 million

14. Hawaii - 10.7%: 1.04 million

15. Rhode Island - 10.7%: 883,000

16. District of Columbia - 10.7%: 261,000

17. Maryland - 10.6%: 6.15 million

18. Illinois - 10.5%: 10.33 million

19. Wisconsin - 10.5%: 6.39 million

20. New Hampshire - 10.5%: 1.68 million

21. South Dakota - 10.5%: 1.23 million

22. North Dakota - 10.5%: 1.03 million

23. New York - 10.4%: 12.9 million

24. Maine - 10.4%: 1.62 million

25. Virginia - 10.3%: 9.72 million

26. Pennsylvania - 10.2%: 10.93 million

27. Michigan - 10.1%: 10.43 million

28. Tennessee - 10.1%: 8.02 million

29. Indiana - 10.1%: 7.35 million

30. Colorado - 10.1%: 5.44 million

31. Kentucky - 10.1%: 5.17 million

32. Utah - 10.1%: 2.92 million

33. Idaho - 10.1%: 1.96 million

34. Montana - 10.1%: 1.32 million

35. Wyoming - 10.1%: 785,000

36. Florida - 10%: 21.32 million

37. North Carolina - 10%: 11.28 million

38. Georgia - 10%: 11.17 million

39. Missouri - 10%: 7.43 million

40. South Carolina - 10%: 6.56 million

41. West Virginia - 10%: 1.9 million

42. Vermont - 10%: 660,000

43. Oklahoma - 9.7%: 4.36 million

44. Kansas - 9.7%: 2.91 million

45. Nebraska - 9.7%: 2.06 million

46. Alabama - 9.6%: 7.32 million

47. Louisiana - 9.6%: 4.99 million

48. Mississippi - 9.6%: 3.9 million

49. Arkansas - 9.6%: 3.46 million

50. Ohio - 9.5%: 11.24 million

51. Alaska - 0%

U.S. - 10.3%: 332.01 million

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @DTNeeley

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