The US government is ending a three-decade-old policy of subsidizing corn ethanol, but it appears that the loss of the 6 billion dollars annual benefit will have little impact on farmers.
Global production of bio-fuels increased 17% in 2010 to reach an all-time high of 105 billion liters, up from 90 billion liters in 2009.
After decades of waiting, commercial airlines have been given the go-ahead to use fuel made from algae, wood chips and other plants with obscure names. Test flights in recent years by Continental, Japan Airlines and Virgin Atlantic have shown that planes can fly on everything from coconut oil to jatropha, a plant that grows in the tropics.