The growing ethanol industry provides a significant contribution to the American economy, creating new high-paying jobs, increasing market opportunities for farmers, generating additional household income and tax revenues, and stimulating capital investment.
FACT: In 2011, the U.S. ethanol industry helped create more than 401,000 jobs, bringing the employment attributable to ethanol to almost a half a million.
New jobs are created as a consequence of increased economic activity caused by ethanol production. The increase in economic activity resulting from ongoing production and construction of new capacity, supported approximately 401,600 jobs in all sectors of the economy during 2011.
Source: Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy of the United States, Cardno ENTRIX, February 2012.
FACT: In 2011, ethanol contributed $42.4 billion to GDP, added $29.9 billion to household income, and displaced the need for 485 million barrels of oil.
Source: Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy of the United States, Cardno ENTRIX, February 2012.
FACT: By increasing the demand for corn, and thus raising corn prices, ethanol helps to lower federal farm program costs.
The fiscal cost of traditional counter-cyclical policies decreases with increasing market prices. Strong corn prices means producers receive no counter-cyclical payments (CCPs) or marketing loan benefits (MLBs) – the sum total of loan deficiency payments (LDPs), marketing loan gains, and certificate exchange gains.
FACT: Ethanol refineries serve as local economic power houses.
While the national economic impact of ethanol production is impressive, small and rural communities with ethanol facilities nearby see a much more dramatic economic boost. An 85 million gallon per year ethanol biorefinery provides the following economic benefits to the local economy:
- The goods and services bought and sold as a result of the operation of the ethanol facility add $274 million to the local GDP.
- The economic activity resulting from the ethanol biorefinery help create 1,540 new jobs across all sectors. Those include nearly 40 at the biorefinery and more than 1,500 in the agricultural sector.
- The increase in good paying jobs as a result of the facility boosts local household incomes by $49 million.
Source: Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy of the United States, LECG, LLC, February 2010.
FACT: Ethanol saves money at the pump.
A study by Iowa State University and the University of Wisconsin found that in 2010, domestic ethanol production helped keep gasoline prices $0.89 lower per gallon than they otherwise would have been. For the first decade of the 2000’s, the researchers found ethanol’s price-lowering impact average $0.25 per gallon.
Source:The Impact of Ethanol Production on US and Regional Gasoline Markets: An Update to May 2009, Xiaodong Du and Dermot J. Hayes, April 2011.
A May 2010 report found that the average American household is saving approximately $200-400 per year on gasoline because of ethanol's inclusion in the U.S. fuel supply.
