A commitment to biofuels should be based on a careful assessment of their prospective benefits and costs, not a blind leap of faith.

Brazil's successful sugarcane ethanol industry owes much to massive investment in infrastructure and research, reports Carla Almeida.

Biofuel holds promise for Africa but research is not yet in place to fully reap the rewards, or analyse the pitfalls, reports Kimani Chege.

Biofuel production offers a lifeline to sugar-producing countries hit by the European Union's 2006 sugar reforms, argues Maureen Wilson.

Strong international policies are needed to stop the biofuel revolution threatening food security for the poor, says Siwa Msangi.

Dryland farmers are growing novel crops for biofuel, but domestication and research into yields and pests is still needed, says William Dar.

Biofuels offer huge potential, but pose challenges best countered with strong and coherent development policies, says S. Arungu-Olende.

Questions remain as to whether other countries' success with biofuels can be replicated in Africa, says Barry Muckle.

Higher food prices due to biofuels will benefit the rural poor — it's the urban poor who will lose out, argues J. H. Tim Williams.

The biofuel industry needs to highlight the effects of biofuel production on water availability, says Mike Baker.

Biofuels production will not have a negative effect on food security in the United States, says Jacob Dubail.

Biofuels and carbon capture, two of the most favoured methods for sustainability, are a 'catastrophe for humankind', argues David Hill.

There are good and bad biofuel programmes, and we would do well to distinguish between them, says Steven Savage.

Biofuels have tremendous potential, but there is a danger of policy leaping ahead of the science, says Jeff McNeely.