Testing times for biofuels

Are biofuels still considered a viable and ecofriendly alternative to oil or has media criticism blighted their once bright future? Katie Holliday talks to industry experts about the future for both first- and second-generation biofuels

In a State of the Union address in February 2006, former US President George Bush pledged to end the nation's "addiction to oil", through increasing spending on renewable technologies. One such technology was ethanol, a fuel produced from agricultural feedstocks such as sugar cane, wheat and corn, and blended in small amounts with gasoline to power motor vehicles. Government incentives have caused this market to flourish over the past five years, particularly in the US, which is now the world's