Ethanol fuel by country

The world's top ethanol fuel producers in 2011 were the United States with 13.9 billion U.S. liquid gallons (bg) (52.6 billion liters) and Brazil with 5.6 bg (21.1 billion liters), accounting together for 87.1% of world production of 22.36 billion US gallons (84.6 billion liters). Strong incentives, coupled with other industry development initiatives, are giving rise to fledgling ethanol industries in countries such as Germany, Spain, France, Sweden, India, China, Thailand, Canada, Colombia, Australia, and some Central American countries. The following table summarizes annual ethanol fuel production by the main producer countries or regions: Ethanol fuel in Brazil and History of ethanol fuel in Brazil Flexible-fuel vehicles in Brazil Brazil has the largest and most successful bio-fuel programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugarcane, and it is considered to have the world's first sustainable biofuels economy. In 2006 Brazilian ethanol provided 18% of the country's road transport sector fuel consumption needs, and by April 2008, more than 50% of fuel consumption for the gasoline market. As a result of the increasing use of ethanol, together with the exploitation of domestic deep water oil sources, Brazil reached in 2006 a volumetric self-sufficiency in oil supply, but is not effectively self-sufficient, since most of its locally extracted oil is heavy. Until 2005 Brazil was the world's top producer of ethanol fuel when it was surpassed by the United States. Together both countries were responsible in 2011 for 87.1% of the world's ethanol fuel production. In 2009 Brazil produced 27.5 billion liters (7.26 billion U.S. liquid gallons), representing 35.9% of the world's total ethanol used as fuel. Sugar cane plantations covered 3.6 million hectares of land for ethanol production, representing just 1% of Brazil's arable land, with a productivity of 7,500 liters of ethanol per hectare, as compared with Germany maize ethanol productivity of 3,000 liters per hectare.