Global ethanol fuel production 2023, by country

The United States is the leading producer of fuel ethanol in the world. In 2023, the U.S. produced an estimated 15.6 billion gallons of the biofuel. The U.S. is also the overall leading biofuel producer in the world. Ethanol is a grain alcohol that can be blended with gasoline and used in regular motor vehicles at a concentration of up to ten percent. Brazil is the world's second-largest producing country, with an output of 8.3 billion gallons that same year.

Brazil – the leading biofuel market

The most common ethanol fuel production type in Brazil is hydrous ethanol, which is the highest concentration grade of ethanol achieved through distillation. Brazil is one of the largest markets for biofuels worldwide, with specifically designed flexible-fuel vehicles available that run on fuels with a greater ethanol content than regular motor vehicles. As a result, the adoption rate of fuel ethanol has been a lot higher compared with other countries, with flexible-fuel vehicles being the most common type of light vehicles across Brazil.

Largest ethanol refiners in the U.S.

Poet Biorefining is the largest U.S. ethanol producer by capacity. As of 2023, the South Dakota-based biofuel refiner had an annual production capacity of 2.7 billion gallons. The company was founded in 1986 and boasts over thirty locations largely across the U.S. Midwest.