Biofuels Heating Up: But Are They Greener?

Bottom Line: Biofuels are all about making fuel out of things that grow rather than using limited, greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels. Corn, sugar cane, algae, waste from wood chips and corn husks – these are some of the many renewable bases for biofuels. There can be a complex set of trade-offs with some biofuels, however. They may help solve CO2 problems but raise other concerns. They are also at a relatively early stage in development, so the long term implications of some of them may not yet be understood. If you want to make claims about their virtues, then, you should tiptoe carefully, ensuring that your substantiation is tight, authoritative and on point, that your claims don't overstate your products' benefits and that material disclosures are made as appropriate.