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Ethanol produced by microorganisms, e.g., Saccharomyces cerevisae, from biomass is called bioethanol. It is the most widely used biofuel used for transport purposes, especially in Brazil and USA. At present, bioethanol is not cost competitive as compared to petrol but is being used for transport due to government subsidies.

Any biofuel proposed to be used for transport purposes should have the following features:

1. It should be portable in sufficient quantities in the vehicle

2. It should burn in the internal combustion engines

3. It should be roughly equivalent to petrol in energy content

Ethanol has certain features, which make it more desirable than petrol, but it also has some undesirable features.