Global ethanol production to reach nearly 90bl litres

This year ethanol production is expected to reach 88.7 billion litres, according to a global annual ethanol production forecast, released by the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA), in cooperation with F.O. Licht. This will replace one million barrels of crude oil a day worldwide.

85.8 billion litres of the biofuel were produced in 2010 and GRFA foresees this rising 3%.

The US is the world's largest manufacturer of ethanol and this will continue into 2011, with an estimated production capacity of more than 51 billion litres this year.

'While energy security issues continue to preoccupy American policy makers, US ethanol production will eliminate the need for over 212 million barrels of imported crude oil worth $21 billion (€15.5 billion) in 2011,' says GRFA spokesperson Bliss Baker. 'There is no doubt that ethanol production today is reducing our reliance on foreign oil, but there is more we can and should do,' he adds.