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Biofuel is a word commonly associated with the green movement and environmental issues.

With governments and individuals alike turning their attention to ways in which green house emissions/gasses can be reduced to help alleviate global warming, the development of biofuels for use in the automotive industry as an alternative to conventional fuels is gaining ever increasing support.

Biofuels are fuels that are manufactured from living things. To date this can be anything from methane, which is produced from animal excrement, to wood products of different types and even straw. Then there are the liquid fuels which are derived from oil waste products. The processing of plants such as corn, rapeseed and sugarcane produces ethanol and diesel - another type of biofuel.

Brazil is out in front of the world field when it comes to producing ethanol. This biofuel is made through fermentation and is similar to the production of alcohol. Brazil generates billions of litres of ethanol per year using sugarcane.

About 60% of new vehicles manufactured today are capable of running on an 85% ethanol fuel mix.

Back in the 1930's, certain vehicles in the UK and Germany were running on biofuels. These cars were designed by the likes of Rudolf Diesel and Henry Ford.

The United States hopes to double the figures for vehicle biofuel use in the next few years. In Britain, the target is for biofuel to make up 5% of transport fuel available for public and commercial sale by 2010. The European Union, within a similar timeframe, is aiming for a 6% biofuel availability target.

The need to preserve the delicate balance of the world's climate may well stimulate the automotive industry to lead in a return to the use of biofuels, not only as an alternative fuel but perhaps ultimately as the mainstay of automotive fuelling supplies.