The growing bioethanol market

ePURE members and other European producers of renewable ethanol produced 5.08 million tonnes (6.4 billion litres) of ethanol and 6.5 million tonnes of food and feed co-products, including high-protein animal feed – in other words, more food than fuel – in 2023, when these figures were last correlated by ePURE. All of the crops used were grown by European farmers. Eighty-six percent of the ethanol produced was for fuel use, achieving an average of 79.1% greenhouse gas (GHG) savings compared to petrol. EU ethanol imports remained high at 2.084 billion litres in 2023, registering only a mild decrease of 2% compared to 2022, noting that in that year imports had increased by 51% compared to 2021. Imports from countries enjoying duty-free access to the EU form the majority (58%) of imports, including notably Pakistan, which represented 408 million litres over that period while benefitting from duty exemption under the GSP regime. Imports subject to duties, including inward processing, represented 40%...