International Policies on Bioenergy and Biofuels - Industrial Crops: Breeding for BioEnergy and Bioproducts - page 382

for the use of biofuels, some biofuels can be imported rather than produced
domestically.
In Brazil, the blend mandate determines the share of the volume of ethanol in the
total volume of fuel (i.e., anhydrous ethanol and gasoline). 7 Since 1975, Brazil has
mandated that anhydrous ethanol be blended with all gasoline sold. The Brazilian
ethanol mandate can vary between 18 % and 25 %. In October 2011, it was reduced
from 25 % down to 20 % because of bad weather adversely affecting sugarcane
production (the primal ethanol feedstock in Brazil) and because of rising global
prices for sugar due to high sugar demand [ 36 ]. Apart from mandating ethanol use,
the Brazilian government also requires that 2 % of biodiesel be blended with diesel,
and this share is to increase to 5 % in 2013 (and even reach 10 % in 2020).
The way the biofuel mandate is implemented in the European Union is similar to
Brazil, with the exception that the quantities of biofuel and total transportation fuel
are expressed in energy equivalents. The EU Directive 2009/28/EC set the refer-
ence target to 5.75 (energy) percent for the share of biofuels in transport fuel
consumption by 2010, and the target was to be increased to reach at least the
mandatory 10 (energy) percent by 2020. At least 20 (40) percent of the 2015 (2020)
targets were supposed to come from “nonfood and feed-competing” second-
generation biofuels or from cars running on green electricity and hydrogen. The
EU targets for biofuels are subsumed in the 2009 Energy and Climate Change
Package, whose goals are summarized by the “20/20/20 objective”: a 20 % green-
house gas (GHG) emission reduction, a 20 % increase in energy efficiency, and a
20 % share of renewable energy (e.g., solar or wind, in addition to biofuels) in the
EU total energy consumption, all by 2020 [ 37 ].
To be counted toward the EU targets, biofuels must reduce at least 35 % carbon
emissions relative to the fossil fuel they are assumed to replace - a saving to be
increased to 50 % and 60 % for existing and new installations, respectively, in 2017.
In comparison, the U.S. EPA requires at least 20% carbon emission reductions for
corn-based ethanol. The ethanol that did not meet this sustainability standard was
not eligible for the blender's tax credit (an ethanol consumption subsidy), but could
be counted toward the U.S. mandate.
Worldwide, the magnitude of the blend mandate ranges between 1 % and 25 %
of the fuel consumption, depending on the country and time horizon. The 25 %
mandate is the maximal share allowed in Brazil. Other countries' mandates are
significantly lower, however, especially because of insufficient infrastructure for
the E85 gas stations (a fuel blend containing up to 85 % of ethanol) and vehicles.
The level of currently enforced mandates in countries other than Brazil thus ranges
between 1 % and 7 %.
In general, the mandates are gradually being increased until a predefined level is
achieved (but notice the recent proposal for a reduction in the first-generation
7 There are two types of ethanol used in Brazil: hydrous (contains water) and anhydrous (water-
free). Gasoline can only be blended with anhydrous ethanol. The use of hydrous ethanol is not
mandated.