In 2017, the industry supported 71,906 direct jobs and 285,587 indirect and induced jobs across all sectors of the economy. This in turn generated $24 billion in household income and $10 billion in federal, state and local taxes. 

The RFA said the industry also spent $32 billion on raw materials, inputs and other goods and services. 

It said the industry, comprising of 211 ethanol plants located in 28 states, produced 15.8 billion gallons in 2017 as well as 41.4 million metric tons of DDGs and 3.6 billion pounds of corn oil. 

Ethanol exports in 2017 hit a record 1.3 billion gallons with Brazil and Canada the top two destinations for American ethanol.

In terms of energy independence, RFA said the United States would have had to import an additional 560 million barrels of crude oil to displace the 15.8 billion gallons of ethanol produced last year.

Additionally, RFA said that one of out of every three tons of DDGs produced in 2017 was exported, with Mexico, Turkey, South Korea, Canada and Thailand among the top export destinations.