Fuel Ethanol Use Expanding Globally but Still Concentrated in Few Markets

In the last 20 years, global consumption of ethanol for transportation fuel has increased because of growing demand in the United States and a small number of other countries. For the last 10 years, about 37 percent of U.S. corn production went into making ethanol, which is directly blended with motor gasoline in almost all markets. As global motor gasoline consumption has grown, so has ethanol consumption. The adoption of Government policies intended to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and support domestic agricultural industries has contributed to expanding ethanol use. Further, in recent years, ethanol’s use as an economical blending feedstock to produce higher grades of finished gasoline has driven consumption even higher.