Will biofuels emerge from the renewables shadows?

Despite ambitious transport fuel targets and strong growth in biofuel demand, bioenergy has failed to get the publicity it warrants

The International Energy Agency (IEA) labels bioenergy an industry blind spot, critical to the sector's evolution, but receiving less attention than it merits. The agency argues that the world's largest current source of renewable energy, and the one forecast to have the strongest five-year growth trend, deserves more prominence. The breadth of the sector is one factor in its relative obscurity—from wood and charcoal in developing world heating, through wood pellets and chips and agricultural wastes in power generation, to biofuels in the transport sector. Advanced biofuels, from sources as diverse as used cooking oil and genetically modified algae, add to the complexity. "Modern bioenergy i