Biofuels have become an increasingly hot topic in the last couple of years, with the tide at last starting to turn against them.

An article from AFP new agency today looks at impact of biofuel production on the price of food, and climate change, in Indonesia. Demand for palm oil has pushed the price of cooking oil up by 70 per cent, while the spread of palm oil plantations into forests has helped make Indonesia the world's third largest greenhouse gas emitter.

Mark Lynas, author of the acclaimed Six Degrees, welcomes the UK government's chief scientist's strong stance against biofuels, and the threat they pose to our food supply. He warns, however, that this is not yet a cause for celebration, as current UK and EU targets for biofuels use will dramatically worsen both carbon emissions and the food supply crisis. Lynas voices cautious optimism on the development of the second generation of biofuels.

A letter in The Times last week from development and environmental NGOs, including Oxfam, urging the UK government to postpone the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), which will require 5% of all fuel sold in UK petrol stations to come from biofuels by 2010.