Renewable fuel is creating a positive economic impact for workers and businesses in southwest Indiana, according to a report issued Thursday.
The non-partisan Fuels America coalition released a 2014 economic impact study by John Dunham & Associates, which encompasses the entire supply chain for renewable fuel and quantifies the impact nationally at the congressional district level.
In Congressional Dist. 8, which includes Sullivan County, the renewable fuel industry supports 3,097 jobs, $149 million in wages and $751 million of economic output, according to the report. Nearly 50 percent of those jobs (1,510) are related to agriculture.
Statewide, the numbers total 25,390 jobs, $1.2 billion in wages and $6.1 billion in total economic activity.
Nationally, the impact is 852,056 jobs, $46 billion in wages and $184 billion in total economic impact.
The renewable fuel industry has more than tripled since the adoption of the bipartisan Renewable Fuel Standard in 2005. Signed into law by President George W. Bush, the RFS calls for increasing levels of American-grown renewable fuel in our transportation fuel supply.
Renewable fuels, like ethanol, are cleaner and American made, according to Fuels America, but also cost less per gallon and have a higher octane level — delivering better engine performance. They have brought the U.S. dependence on foreign oil to its lowest level in years.
Fuels America is a coalition of organizations committed to protecting America’s Renewable Fuel Standard and promoting the benefits of all types of renewable fuel already growing in America, the release stated.