A report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shows employment in the biofuels industry grew 2% in 2016 to about 1.7 million jobs.

Bioethanol output increased among all leading producers, except for the EU, IRENA said. Nevertheless, labour requirements in countries such as the US and Brazil declined due to continued mechanisation.

In Brazil, while ethanol production rose by almost 8% in 2015, employment dropped by 10% to 613,000 as some 30,000 jobs were lost in sugar-cane harvesting and 15,000 jobs in ethanol processing.

In the US, ethanol production increased by over 3% in 2016, but employment declined by 2% to about 222,500 jobs. A large part of 161,700 was in the agriculture supply chain, followed by ethanol production with around 35,000 jobs.

 

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