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Study looks at ethanol’s contributions to U.S. economy
RFA chair Mick Henderson, GM of Commonwealth Agri-Energy in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, addresses National Ethanol Conference attendees in San Antonio.
A new study looks at the ethanol industry’s contributions to the nation’s economy.
The analysis conducted by AFB Economics found that the U.S. ethanol industry added more than 44 billion dollars to the nation’s gross domestic products and supported near 360-thousand jobs in 2017.
Mick Henderson, who chairs the Renewable Fuels Association, says the plant he manages in western Kentucky is a good example of ethanol’s economic ripple effect.
“The ethanol goes to Nashville, the distillers (grains) goes to local poultry, the distillers corn oil goes to local biodiesel, and the CO2 goes across the fence to make liquid CO2 for your Cokes and Pepsis. And dry ice too, they actually have a dry ice plant,” Henderson says. “So we’re local supplied-local demand.”
Additionally, the study found that ethanol displaced 532 million barrels of imported oil in 2017, keeping 27 billion dollars in the U.S. economy.
Brownfield visited with Henderson at the National Ethanol Conference in San Antonio.
AUDIO: Mick Henderson
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