National Ethanol Industry
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The United States ethanol industry added $55 billion to the Gross Domestic Product and $10 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2023. It also added $32 billion in household income.
EMPLOYMENT
The nation’s ethanol industry supports more than 395,000 American jobs in all sectors of the economy.
RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Each plant contributes to the local economy by providing jobs at above-average wages and an additional market for locally-grown corn. In 2023, a typical dry mill ethanol plant added approximately $2.44 of additional value, or 34%, to every bushel of corn processed.
PRODUCTION
In 2023, 15.6 billion gallons of ethanol was produced at nearly 200 plants in 23 states making the U.S. the largest ethanol-producing country in the world.
CONSUMPTION
Ethanol is blended with nearly every gallon of the nation’s gasoline supply. The ethanol used in 2023 accounts for more than 10% of the nation’s motor fuel supply, up from less than 1% 20 years ago. In addition, 1.4 billion gallons (roughly 10% of production) were exported in 2023 to over 75 countries. (Canada is the largest and most consistent destination for U.S. ethanol exports, accounting for 30%, followed by the United Kingdom and the European Union).
CORN USE
In 2023, grain demand by the ethanol industry boosted the value of the U.S. agriculture sector by $28 billion – that’s $14,000 per farm. Around 35% of corn produced is used for ethanol and coproduct production, which includes 35 million metric tons of high-quality livestock feed.
RENEWABLE FUELS STANDARD
The Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) came to an important crossroads in 2022, with Congress including specific volume requirements for only the first 15 years. Moving forward, EPA is given more discretion to “set” RFS volumes. In December 2022, EPA proposed the first RFS “set” rule for 2023 and beyond. The proposal leaves conventional renewable fuel volumes at 15 billion gallons for 2023 and increases them to 15.25 billion gallons for 2024 and 2025.
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REDUCED GAS PRICES
Nearly every gallon of gasoline sold in the U.S. today contains at least 10% ethanol (E10) saving consumers roughly 40-50 cents per gallon. Many gas stations are starting to offer E15 (Unleaded 88), which is a gasoline blended with 15 percent bioethanol. A simple nationwide move to make E15 the standard fuel sold across the U.S. would save American families $20.6 billion per year in fuel costs.
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ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
Ethanol use reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by as much as 50%. Increasing the amount of biofuels used in the transportation sector by just 5 percent would be like taking nearly four million cars off the road each year.
ENERGY SECURITY
The 15.6 billion gallons of ethanol used in the United States in 2023 displaced more than 700 million barrels of imported oil.
COPRODUCTS
In 2023, the nation’s ethanol industry produced 35 million metric tons (mmt) of distillers grains, gluten feed and gluten meal. These bio-products are valuable corn and soybean meal substitutes in rations used around the world to feed beef and dairy cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, fish, and other animals. The ethanol industry also produced over 4.2 billion pounds of distillers corn oil, a valuable animal feed ingredient and a major feedstock for bio-based diesel.
NEW HORIZONS
Ethanol producers are embracing technologies that capture biogenic CO2 and permanently sequester it underground or reuse it as a building block for emerging bioproducts. New uses for low carbon ethanol are on the way like sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Nationally we use about 20 billion gallons of jet fuel and about 100 billion gallons of jet fuel are used internationally. The jet fuel market is projected to expand to 250 billion gallons per year by 2050.
COMPETITION
Brazil is the second largest ethanol-producing country in the world and is rapidly growing with the expansion of corn ethanol and low carbon intensity of their ethanol. Virtually all fuel ethanol imports into the U.S. come from Brazil.