The rise, fall and rise of Brazil's biofuel

By Robert Plummer BBC News

As oil prices continue to hover above the $50-a-barrel mark, amid fears that the world may soon run out of fossil fuels, carmakers and politicians alike are desperate to come up with alternative ways to power the world's motor vehicles.

Even a man as closely linked with the oil industry as President George W Bush is now spreading the message that one day we may be growing our fuel instead of digging it out of the ground.

"An interesting opportunity, not only for here but for the rest of the world, is biodiesel, a fuel developed from soybeans," he said on Tuesday night at his joint news conference with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.