In addition to the United States, bioenergy development has become important in many other countries and regions around the world, and as a result, several nations are considering or enacting biofuels policies.
Brazil has the world’s oldest and largest biofuels program, producing ethanol from sugarcane for its own domestic use and for some exports. The European Union (EU) has a goal of replacing 5.75% of its liquid fuel consumption with biofuels by 2010, and some countries within the EU have more ambitious goals. Europe also provides biofuel subsidies. As the automobile fleet is predominantly diesel powered, EU policies emphasize biodiesel more than ethanol. Other countries considering subsidies and/or renewable fuel standards include China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Canada, Australia, and South Africa.
The combined impact of these programs will result in the availability of fewer agricultural commodities for domestic feed and food use, and for exports. Commodity prices will increase, sometimes above existing agricultural support prices, thus negating these policies. International agricultural trade negotiations will be affected.