Eric Hakmiller Consulting

ABOUT

With 35+ years in commodity processing, I’ve led operations in corn wet milling, oilseed/softseed crush, soy concentrates, animal feed, and biofuels. I’ve run P&Ls, built international sales channels, and supervised plants in the U.S. and Europe. Data has always been the driver in the commodity world.

My approach is simple: make assets more efficient and more competitive in a tough commodity world.  

Contact

Laplace’s Demon - If (a person) knew all the forces and the position of all things and if it were vast enough to analyze this data, then nothing would be uncertain and the future, just as the past, would present before the eyes

-Pierre-Simon Laplace 1814

All data is from publicly available sources including websites, state air permits, state construction permits, and Federal EPA filings.

US Ethanol Technology & Logistics

Here is a map of the US Ethanol industry. The map has 204 ethanol sites. Here is an interactive link to the map <here>.

There are filters on the left that allow the industry to be seen by the original technology (ICM, Delta -T, etc.), Enhanced technology or rail lines. Location, technology and rail access are the main drivers of value in the industry.

The bottom left has a counter which counts the participants of the filtered group and added the installed ethanol capacity of the group.

The top right is a menu to map major infrastructure of the industry, either rail or pipelines.

Ethanol and Corn related information:

Data has never been more freely available. Aggregating that data into information and visualizing it in an actionable way is more difficult. Here are some of my favorite ethanol visualizations pulled from public information but often hard to find. You need a different look? Contact me and I see if I can pull it from my database. here>

  • Forecasting Stock Use as a proxy for Supply & Demand here>

    Monte Carlo Simulation of margins from Stocks USe, Ethanol Prices and Corn Prices here>

    Correlation table between Stocks & Margins here>

    • Stocks Use Report here>

    • Ethanol Production Current here>

    • Ethanol Consumption Current here>

    • Ethanol Net Exports as percent of Production here>

    • Weekly Stocks Bridge here>

    EIA updates Data each Wednesday

    • Ethanol Gross Margin here>

    • Ethanol Average Yields (USDA Corn Use) here>

    • Corn Oil Average Yields (USDA Corn use) <here>

    Input values based on published central Iowa corn ethanol data. Yields extracted from USDA published reports.

  • Interactive Ethanol Plant Technology Map with Rail <here>

    EPA C02 Inject Well License: here

    • Interactive Nearby Corn Basis Map here >

    • Basis Distribution here>

    • Corn Ethanol Basis Changes here >

    • Corn Basis Map One Month ago here >

    • Corn Basis Map One Year Ago here>

    Interested in access to a 4 year archive database of Ethanol corn basis data or specific plant location? Email for more information.

    Ethanol Volumes : https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/ethanolcapacity/ethanolcapacity.xlsx

  • Interactive Map of Ethanol CARB carbon scores. here>

    Lowest Ten Corn Starch here>

    Lowest Ten Fiber here>

    Lowest Ten Sorghum here>

    Score Changes Since Last Report

Services

Ethanol and renewable technology and optimizations.

  • Ethanol Strategic Development

    Develop plans to capitalize on the inherent advantages of a facility including location, rail, quatlity or feedstock

  • Ethanol Yield Optimization

    Raise gallons per bushel without blowing up variability.

  • Corn Oil Extraction Improvement

    Tune separation, chemistry, and run conditions to lift oil recovery.

  • Fermentation Performance Improvement

    Reduce infections, improve attenuation, stabilize run rates.

  • Technology Sourcing & Introductions

    Connect with OEMs, FST/MSC providers, and process tech that actually fits your plant.

  • Carbon Intensity Reduction Strategy

    Pathway review and recommendations to lower CI and access LCFS/45Z value.

  • Operations Analytics & Statistical Review

    Use data to find bottlenecks, off-spec trends, and underperforming assets.

  • Project Delivery & Implementation Support

    From business case to commissioning — make the change stick.