The renewable industry association APPA estimated that Spain covered only around 0.6% of Spain’s transport needs in 2006 and much of the biofuel supply was exported. Spain has more than a dozen bioethanol and biodiesel plants which produced in 2006 the equivalent of 549,000 tonnes of oil. Spain’s target of 6% biofuels use in transport by 2010 need a rise of supply to 2.2 million tonnes, consumed in the country itself.

Also in the US the demand - and not the supply - of biofuels is the biggest concern of stakeholders. According to figures of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), ethanol production in the US has reached 18.5 billion litres, with 303 million litres of import. The RFA expects that the goal of an ethanol production capacity 28.4 billion litres will be exceeded “rather sooner that later”. The demand from the conventional gasoline market is not catching up with these figures.

Now the production of ethanol and other biofuels in the US shows a remarkable growth, the US is searching for other places to invest. Recently, a new partnership between Brazil and the US was unveiled to expand the use of biofuels in Latin America, providing opportunities to investors. The US will fund the biggest part of the partnership which will study the feasibility of introducing ethanol in Latin American countries.