Global ethanol policy summary:
In November 2015, the US Environmental Protection Agency published the 2014, 2105, and 2016 renewable fuel standard rule and 2017 biomass-based biodiesel mandate.
U.S. will continue importing ethanol mostly derived from sugarcane to meet California’s low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) requirement.
As of March 2015, the government of Brazil increased the domestic ethanol mandates from 25% to 27%. In Brazil, the state run fuel supplier Petrobras controls the ethanol blended fossil fuel retail price.
Canadian federal government mandated 5% renewable fuel in gasoline. Canada has provincial ethanol blending mandates too. British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario have an ethanol blending mandate rate of 5%, while Saskatchewan has a 7.5% rate and Manitoba has an 8.5% ethanol blending mandate rate.
British Columbia has a low carbon fuel standard that targets a 10% decrease in carbon intensity between 2010 and 2020.
The European Union implemented the EU Energy and Climate Change Package in April 2009 and Renewable Energy Directive (RED) in June of 2009. According to RED by 2020, there needs to be a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990. 20% of the total EU energy mix would come from renewable energy and there is a 10% renewable energy blending target in transport fuel. Further, in April 2015 EU amended the original RED to include the 7% cap on crop based biofuels.
EU’s antidumping duties on bioethanol has restricted U.S. from exporting ethanol to EU for fuel use.