As ethanol producers gather this week in San Diego for the 2024 National Ethanol Conference, they can celebrate a great year for the industry in 2023.
As inflationary pressures eased and demand boomed for low-carbon ethanol and its co-products, the ethanol industry’s contribution to the U.S. economy remained strong in 2023, according to the latest economic impact analysis conducted for the Renewable Fuels Association by ABF Economics.
In 2023, more than 72,400 U.S. jobs were directly associated with the ethanol industry, with an additional 322,000 indirect and induced jobs supported across all sectors of the economy. The industry created $32.5 billion in household income and contributed just over $54.2 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product—the second-highest GDP contribution ever. As a result, an estimated $10.4 billion in tax revenue was generated for federal, state and local governments. Returns over operating costs averaged an estimated $0.47 per gallon, almost doubling the average operating margin from 2022, according to the report.
RFA Chief Economist Scott Richman says the industry is very close to total recovery from the hit it took in 20202 due to the pandemic. “Consumption and production are not quite at their peaks but they have gotten pretty close,” said Richman. “But demand both domestically and internationally was pretty strong last year and hopefully this year we’ll get national E15 and that will continue.”
In this interview from the National Ethanol Conference, Richman also discusses the 2022 Census of Agriculture released last week and how it confirms not only the decline of cropland in the U.S., but also the adoption of environmental practices, which he wrote about in a blog post last week.
NEC24 Scott Richman, RFA 9:292024 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album
2024 National Ethanol Conference Preview Activities Photo Album