March 16, 2016

The Benefits of Ethanol Go Beyond Price

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When you pull up to a fuel pump, you may notice that ethanol blends are friendlier to your wallet, but the benefits of ethanol go beyond your pocketbook. American Ethanol makes an important contribution to our environment, public health, economy and agricultural industry.

Public Health & Environment
Ethanol is a non-toxic, cleaner-burning octane booster that combusts fuel more completely in the engine. Higher blends of ethanol dilute the level of toxic additives in our fuel, which helps reduce pollution. This is good for our health and the environment!

Oil companies use a combination of toxic carcinogens known as BTX (benzene, toluene, xylene). These carcinogens don’t completely combust in the engine. As a result, fine and ultrafine particulates leave the tailpipe and enter the air we breathe. These particles are linked to serious health problems including asthma, lung and brain cancer, and heart disease.

As technology becomes more efficient, farmers produce more crops with less resources. This reduces our carbon footprint and our impact on the environment.

Today more energy is being produced from ethanol than is used to produce it, by factors of 2 to 1 nationally and by 4 to 1 in the Midwest, according to the 2015 Energy Balance for the Corn-Ethanol Industry done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Chief Economist.

Economy & Agriculture
A recent study by University of Nebraska-Lincoln economists reveals Nebraska’s value of production for ethanol and dried distillers grain (DDGs) is approximately $5 billion annually.

Nebraskans grow and process their corn into ethanol within the state, which keeps more money in the local economy. Nebraska ethanol production results in a net positive of both ethanol and its co-products, which brings new money into the state economy.

The ethanol industry creates a substantial annual impact on the Nebraska labor market by supporting approximately 4,500 jobs with average annual earnings (wages, salaries and benefits) of $72,000. The average earnings include direct jobs in the ethanol industry as well as jobs throughout the state, which are primarily created in rural Nebraska.

Additionally, the increased use of ethanol helps reduce the need for agricultural subsidies — and America’s energy dollars will go to domestic producers rather than members of foreign oil cartels.
Make the CleanAir® Choice
When you fill up, consider the many benefits of ethanol:

  • Renewable fuel made here in Nebraska
  • Reduces toxic exhaust emissions, which reduces air pollution and its effect on human health
  • Provides consumers a wider choice of high-quality fuels
  • Lowers the cost of filling up at the pump
  • Burns cleaner and cooler, helping extend engine life
Learn more about the benefits of American Ethanol at: americanethanolne.org 

This post was submitted by the Nebraska Ethanol Board. The Nebraska Corn Board and Nebraska Ethanol Board continue to work together to establish procedures and processes necessary to the manufacturing and marketing of ethanol fuel. 

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