Ethanol production for 2008 is still expected to have exceeded the goal of nine billion gallons for the year, but not by as much as anticipated. While the industry was on track to produce about ten billion gallons for the year, the latest figures for November indicate it will be more like 9.1 billion.

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), American ethanol facilities averaged 668,000 barrels (about 28 million gallons) per day. That’s about 8 million gallons per day more than November of 2007. Through November, the ethanol industry was averaging 596,000 b/d of production – which would mean about 9.1 billion for the year if December holds up to the average.

The Renewable Fuels Association reports that demand continued to outpace production for ethanol in November by about 15,000 barrels per day. Average ethanol demand for the year through November 2008 was over 26 million gallons per day.

According to RFA, the recent economic troubles have had an impact on America’s ethanol industry as they have every other sector of the American economy and they estimate that approximately 1.8 billion gallons of production capacity is currently idled.