LINCOLN, NE – A new report released this week by an analyst at the consulting firm LECG LLC noted that since 1978, the U.S. ethanol industry has generated an estimated $33.4 billion in tax revenues for the federal government and nearly $17 billion of additional tax revenues for state and local governments. The figures are in 2008 dollars.

During that same time, reported LECG director John Urbanchuk, ethanol reduced America's tab for imported oil by $97.5 billion and reduced farm program payments by more than $3 billion annually since 2006. He said that brings the total return on investment for each dollar expended in the form of a federal tax incentive for ethanol use to nearly 5 to 1.

"Those figures and positive overall return are not surprising," said Don Hutchens, executive director of the Nebraska Corn Board. "An analysis of the impact of ethanol production in Nebraska also shows a tremendous economic return, which helps drive farm income and positive ripples through our economy."

In 2006, he said, Nebraska had 12 operating ethanol plants that generated more than $18 million in tax revenues, added more than $1.3 billion in economic output to the state and contributed nearly $100 million in household income, which translates to $40 million in retail spending. Since 2006, the ethanol industry in Nebraska has doubled, so those figures have risen considerably, Hutchens said, all while providing a new market for Nebraska's growing corn supply.

"Certainly there are some ethanol companies that are in a tough spot today, but most are performing well and will continue efforts to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by replacing oil-based gasoline with cleaner and renewable ethanol," he said.

Nationally, ethanol represented 7 percent of U.S. gasoline supply, or roughly 9 billion gallons this year. The industry is set to provide 10.5 billion gallons of ethanol next year, allowing fuel blenders to meet the Renewable Fuels Standard.

In response to some critics that continue arguing corn should be cheaper, Hutchens said corn prices have fallen by more than half from their highs this summer and may in fact be below the cost of production for many corn growers.

"Arguing that we should reduce ethanol production and increase our dependence on foreign oil just so some food companies can have even bigger profits doesn't make sense. One would think these companies would push for alternatives to oil, helping to keep their own energy costs low, because we've all seen what can happen when there's no competition in the energy sector," Hutchens said. "These groups simply continue to distort the facts and, honestly, their attempts to dump renewable fuels for more oil didn't make sense six months ago and doesn’t make sense now, either."

The Nebraska Corn Board is a self-help program, funded and managed by Nebraska corn farmers. Producers invest in the program at a rate of 1/4 of a cent per bushel of corn sold. Nebraska corn checkoff funds are invested in programs of market development, research and education.