The use of biofuels varies by region. The world leaders in biofuel development and use are Brazil, United States, France, Sweden and Germany.
Americas Brazil
The government of Brazil hopes to build on the success of the Proálcool ethanol program by expanding the production of biodiesel which must contain 2% biodiesel by 2008, and 5% by 2013.
Canada
The government of Canada aims for 45% of the country's gasoline consumption to contain 10% ethanol by 2010.
Colombia and Venezuela Colombia mandates the use of 10% ethanol in all gasoline sold in cities with populations exceeding 500,000. In Venezuela, the state oil company is supporting the construction of 15 sugar cane distilleries over the next five years, as the government introduces an E10 (10% ethanol) blending mandate.
United States
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 was passed by the United States Congress on July 29, 2005, and signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2005, at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Act, described by proponents as an attempt to combat growing energy problems, changed the energy policy of the United States by providing tax incentives and loan guarantees for energy production of various types. In 2006, the United States president George W. Bush said in a State of the Union speech that the US is "addicted to oil" and should replace 75% of imported oil by 2025 by alternative sources of energy including biofuels.
Essentially all ethanol fuel in the US is produced from corn. Corn is a very energy-intensive crop, which requires one unit of fossil-fuel energy to create just 0.9 to 1.3 energy units of ethanol. A senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Congressman Fred Upton introduced legislation to use at least E10 fuel by 2012 in all cars in the United States.
The 2007-12-19 US Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requires American "fuel producers to use at least" "of biofuel in 2022. This is nearly a fivefold increase over current levels." This is causing a significant shift of resources away from food production. American food exports have decreased (increasing grain prices worldwide), and US food imports have increased significantly.
Today most biofuels are not currently cost-effective without significant subsidies. "America's ethanol program is a product of government subsidies. There are more than 200 different kinds, as well as a 54 cents-a-gallon tariff on imported ethanol. This prices Brazilian ethanol out of an otherwise competitive market. Brazil makes ethanol from sugarcane rather than corn (maize), which has a better EROEI. Federal subsidies alone cost $7 billion a year (equal to around $1.90 a gallon)."
General Motors is starting a project to produce E85 fuel from cellulose ethanol for a projected cost of . This is optimistic, because $1 per US gallon equates to which is comparable to woodchips at or firewood at , and this does not account for conversion losses and plant operating and capital costs which are significant. The raw materials can be as simple as corn stalks and scrap petroleum-based vehicle tires, but used tires are an expensive feedstock with other more-valuable uses. GM has over 4 million E85 cars on the road now, and by 2012 half of the production cars for the US will be capable of running on E85 fuel. But by 2012, the supply of ethanol will not even be close to supplying this much E85. Coskata Inc. is building two new plants for the ethanol fuel. Theoretically, the process is claimed to be five times more energy efficient than corn based ethanol, but it is still in development and has not been proven to be cost effective in a free market. The greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 86% for cellulose compared to corn's 29% reduction.
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 is a $288 billion, five-year agricultural policy bill being considered by the United States Congress as a continuation of the 2002 Farm Bill. The bill continues the United States' long history of agricultural subsidy as well as pursuing areas such as energy, conservation, nutrition, and rural development. Some specific initiatives in the bill include increases in Food Stamp benefits, increased support for the production of cellulosic ethanol, and money for the research of pests, diseases and other agricultural problems.
Asia In 2007, the 10 ASEAN members and leaders from Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, signed the Cebu Declaration on the East Asian Energy Security Pact in the Philippines and agreed to promote the development of biofuels to reduce fossil fuel dependence and promote cleaner sources of energy. Subsequently, several Asian countries formulated policies and set targets for biofuels utilization. The Philippine government passed a law that mandates a minimum of 1% biodiesel blend within three months and at least 2% biodiesel blend within two years upon the effectiveness of the Act, and at least 5% bioethanol blend within two years upon effectiveness of the Act and 10% bioethanol fuel within four years after (Philippine Republic Act No. 9637 or also known as the Philippine Biofuels Act).” Thailand has established a 10% target for an ethanol mix in regular gasoline, while Malaysia has set a 5% palm oil diesel blend at domestic pumps. Indonesia plans to double the palm oil acreage area over the next 30 years.
China
China has 45 listed companies doing biofuels-related businesses and is expected to grow even more because of China’s booming economy. Among the major foreign investors are Biolux Energy, Bright BioFuels (BBF), Sunshine Technology Group, and Asia Energy. As of 2008, China ranked No. 8 in Biofuels Country Attractiveness Indices commissioned by Ernst & Young. Since the late 1990s, China has set up major policies supporting the development and utilization of biofuels. In 2001, the government initially formulated the First Five-Year Plan for Bioethanol and the Special Development Plan for Denatured Fuel Ethanol and Bioethanol Gasoline for Automobiles. In early 2002, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and seven other ministries jointly issued two policy documents: the Pilot Testing Program of Bioethanol for Automobiles, and the Detail Regulations for Implementing the Pilot Testing Program of Bioethanol Gasoline for Automobiles. In 2003, a 10% ethanol (E10) blending for its automobile sector was initiated in three cities in Henan Province and in two cities in Heilongjiang Province. The following major support policies were provided to carry out the terms of the two policy documents: (i) a 5% consumption tax on all bioethanol under the E10 program was waived for all bioethanol plants; (ii) the value-added tax (normally 17%) on bioethanol production was refunded at the end of each year; (iii) all bioethanol plants received subsidized “old grain” (grains reserved in national stocks that are not suitable for human consumption) for feedstock. This subsidy was jointly provided by the central and local governments; and (iv) the government offered a subsidy to ensure a minimum profit for the bioethanol plants. This means that in the event that a bioethanol plant declares loss in production and marketing, the government will provide a subsidy equal to the gap between marketing revenues and production costs plus a reasonable profit that the firm could have obtained from an alternative investment. There are five licensed ethanol fuel producers and over 12 operational biodiesel plants and roughly 28 more under construction in China. Among the licensed ethanol producers, the Jilin Fuel Alcohol Company is the largest, located in an industrial complex in the northern part of China near Jilin City, Jilin Province. The largest ethanol production facility was established in 2001 as a joint venture between PetroChina, Cofoco, and the Jilin Food Company. It has its own power station, water treatment facility, and employs about 430 employees of which 10% are at management level. All ethanol produced at this facility is blended by PetroChina, which has 20 ethanol blending stations in Jilin Province. Bioethanol plants are required by the government to sell their produced fuel ethanol only to appointed oil companies, such as PetroChina or Sinopec at a price of 0.91 or about $0.82/liter. The government subsidizes the gap between the sale price and production cost. China's potential marginal arable lands are limited and most are fragmented. In a 2003-2004 survey conducted by the Ministry of Land and Resources, potential arable lands that are not fragmented amounted only to 7.3 million hectares, accounting for 8.28% of total reserved land.
India
In 2025, India has achieved its target of 20% ethanol blend fuel and it produced ethanol biofuel worth US$5 billion.Govt constructing 10000 km greenfield expressway projects at 6 lakh cr investment- Gadkari, Economic Times, 9 Oct 2025. In 2021, India imports 85% of petroleum products worth $55 billion, India has set a target of blending 20% ethanol in petrol by 2025 resulting in import substitution and India provides financial assistance for manufacturing ethanol from rice, wheat, barley, corn, sorghum, sugarcane, sugar beet, etc.India wants to use food grain stock for ethanol. That’s a problem in a hungry country, The Print, 1 July 2021.
The country aims to replace 20% of the country's diesel requirement with biodiesel in accordance with the National Biodiesel Mission (NBM) by 2012. The NBM has been, and will continue to be, implemented in two stages: First is a demonstration project, which was carried out over the period 2003-2007 aimed at cultivating 400,000 hectares of Jatropha expected to yield about 3.75 tons of oilseed per hectare annually. The project has also demonstrated the viability of other related activities/projects such as seed collection and oil extraction. In addition, the government will build a transesterification plant. Second, a commercialisation period which started in 2007 and will proceed until 2012 will continue with Jatropha cultivation. The plan also involves the installation of more transesterification plants that will position India to meet 20% of its diesel needs through biodiesel. High ethanol prices and low availability of sources has compelled the government to amend its 5% blending target with the notification that 5% bioethanol blended petrol shall be supplied in identified areas if (a) the indigenous price of ethanol offered for ethanol blended petrol programme is comparable to that offered by the indigenous ethanol industry for alternative uses, (b) the indigenous delivery price of ethanol offered for the ethanol blended petrol programme at a particular location is comparable to the import parity price of petrol at that location, and (c) there is an adequate supply of ethanol. To encourage investment, there are also tax incentives and excise cuts. At the state level, the Maharashtra government offers waivers of government fee from the 1 percent turnover tax on anhydrous ethanol, ₹ 500 per kilolitre (kl) (US$0.048 per US gallon) permit fee, 4% sales tax, 10% surcharge on sales tax, ₹ 1,500/kl (US$0.14/US gal) import fee, ₹ 300/kl (US$0.029/US gal) service charges and 3% Octroi, which is a local tax collected on various articles brought into the district for consumption. By 2030, it is expected that India will soon become the world's third largest economy due to its speedy growth. In 2005, the GDP of India was US$0.6 trillion, and it is forecasted to reach US$6.1 trillion by the year 2030 at an annual growth rate of 9%.
Indonesia