The report said the industry directly employed 71,367 jobs and supported an additional 294,516 indirect and induced jobs in 2018. This generated $25 billion in household income and nearly $10 billion in federal, state and local taxes.

The ethanol industry also spent $26 billion on raw materials, inputs and other goods and services in 2018, the report said. 

In addition to the record 16.1 billion gallons of ethanol produced, the report said the industry, comprising of 210 ethanol plants located across 27 states, also produced a record 41.3 million metric tons of distillers grains, gluten feed and gluten meal as well as 4 billion pounds of corn oil in 2018.

In terms of energy independence, the report noted the US would have had to import an additional 594 million barrels of oil in 2018 to displace the 16.1 billion gallons of ethanol produced. 

As for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the report said that the use of ethanol in gasoline in the US last year reduced 55.1 million metric tons of GHG emissions, which was the equivalent of removing 11.7 million cars from the road.

It was also a record year for exports, the report said, adding ethanol exports grew 20 percent to 16.1 billion gallons in 2018.