Rural Development

In the EU, Renewable Ethanol manufacturers are an engine of the so-called bioeconomy, creating innovation, developing new markets and jobs, both in the field and in the industry itself.

The European renewable ethanol industry employs approximately 70,000 workers, direct and indirect, many of them in the bioeconomy sector. The bioeconomy sector supports the development of the field even in the poorest places in the EU. The overall turnover of the bioeconomy sector is around 2 trillion euros and total employment represents 9% of total employment in the EU.

Each biorefinery generates about 100 direct jobs, and can produce up to 500 indirect jobs, including external maintenance, transportation and service personnel. Qualified “ecological” jobs, both direct and indirect, are aimed at the production of fuel, animal feed, food and beverage ingredients, biobased energy and chemicals.

Biorefineries in the EU are the hope of the economic development of the field. Since its raw material par excellence is agricultural biomass, biorefineries are normally found in rural areas. 99% of its raw material for 2015 was grown in Europe, although the overall use of cereals in the EU is still much higher.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that farmers’ incomes will increase thanks to Bioethanol production. Biorefineries create additional and regular income for farmers. With these new revenues, they will be able to improve the yield of their lands, improve their mechanization, buy better quality seeds and improve cultivation methods. This improvement in productivity will in turn increase the production of bioethanol and food, without having to use additional land.