Biofuels: could agave, hemp and saltbush be the fuels of the future?

Oilier plants, new processing technologies and multipurpose crops could put the biofuel industry back in the race for greener transport fuels

Biofuels have long been touted as a carbon-neutral alternative to fossil fuels, doing for the world's planes, ships and automobiles what windfarms and solar panels are doing for its electricity grids. With the transport sector accounting for almost one fifth of Australia's total carbon emissions, green biofuels could be an important ingredient of the zero emissions future envisioned by the Paris climate agreement.

On paper, biofuels seem the ideal replacement for fossil fuels, which drive global warming by spewing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that would otherwise be locked away in geological deposits. With biofuels, the plants and algae used to produce the raw material inhale carbon as they grow, offsetting the carbon released when they are burned.