It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. World ethanol production for transport fuel tripled between 2000 and 2007 from 17 billion to more than 52 billion litres. From 2007 to 2008, the share of ethanol in global gasoline type fuel use increased from 3.7% to 5.4%. In 2011 worldwide ethanol fuel production reached 22.36 billion U.S. liquid gallons (bg) (84.6 billion liters), with the United States as the top producer with 13.9 bg (52.6 billion liters), accounting for 62.2% of global production, followed by Brazil with 5.6 bg (21.1 billion liters). Ethanol fuel has a "gasoline gallon equivalency" (GGE) value of 1.5 US gallons (5.7 L), which means 1.5 gallons of ethanol produce the energy of one gallon of gasoline. Ethanol fuel is widely used in Brazil and in the United States, and together both countries were responsible for 87.1% of the world's ethanol fuel production in 2011. Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol, and ethanol represented 10% of the U.S. gasoline fuel supply in 2011. Since 1976 the Brazilian government has made it mandatory to blend ethanol with gasoline, and since 2007 the legal blend is around 25% ethanol and 75% gasoline (E25). By December 2011 Brazil had a fleet of 14.8 million flex-fuel automobiles and light trucksand 1.5 million flex-fuelmotorcycles that regularly use neat ethanol fuel (known as E100).
It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. World ethanol production for transport fuel tripled between 2000 and 2007 from 17 billion to more than 52 billion litres. From 2007 to 2008, the share of ethanol in global gasoline type fuel use increased from 3.7% to 5.4%. In 2011 worldwide ethanol fuel production reached 22.36 billion U.S. liquid gallons (bg) (84.6 billion liters), with the United States as the top producer with 13.9 bg (52.6 billion liters), accounting for 62.2% of global production, followed by Brazil with 5.6 bg (21.1 billion liters). Ethanol fuel has a "gasoline gallon equivalency" (GGE) value of 1.5 US gallons (5.7 L), which means 1.5 gallons of ethanol produce the energy of one gallon of gasoline. Ethanol fuel is widely used in Brazil and in the United States, and together both countries were responsible for 87.1% of the world's ethanol fuel production in 2011. Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol, and ethanol represented 10% of the U.S. gasoline fuel supply in 2011. Since 1976 the Brazilian government has made it mandatory to blend ethanol with gasoline, and since 2007 the legal blend is around 25% ethanol and 75% gasoline (E25). By December 2011 Brazil had a fleet of 14.8 million flex-fuel automobiles and light trucksand 1.5 million flex-fuelmotorcycles that regularly use neat ethanol fuel (known as E100).