Sugarcane production requires a tropical climate and Brazil has the largest sugarcane cultivation (about 27% of global production) and was the first and biggest producer of bioethanol in the world for many years. Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) contains about 15% sucrose (saccharose) which is a disaccharide of hexose units (one molecule of glucose and one molecule of fructose). The chemical bonds can be broken relatively easily (e. g. by yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae) resulting in glucose which is free and available for fermentation in the ethanol production process. The sucrose is extracted from the sugarcane by pressing the already chopped and shredded cane. The remaining solid biomass from the pressing (bagasse) is fibrous and usually used as a fuel in the sugar mill. Several steps are involved in isolating sugar as a pure solid, including several crystallisation steps, however these purification steps are not necessary in ethanol production. The sugarcane must be processed a short time after harvesting (normally within 48 hours of harvesting) to achieve the maximum yield of ethanol avoiding the possible oxidation and degradation of the sugar units.

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is a plant whose roots contain large amount of sucrose (about 17%). Sugar beet generates good yields (more than 50 tonnes/ha) but compared to sugarcane is an energy — and chemical-intensive crop. Sugar beet cannot be cultivated more than once every three years on the same field because of the potential survival of pests in the soil. After the washing of sugar beet, the beet is sliced, pressed and the sugar content separated from water by several decolourisation and separation techniques. Mostly, European countries like France and Russia together with the USA produce most of the sugar beet in the world, e. g. the ten biggest producer countries in Europe produced 242 million metric tons of sugar beet in 2005.