The aviation industry is praying biofuel will redeem their reputation as carbon polluting baddies. But will it make much difference to carbon emissions or is this a mix of greenwash and wishful thinking?

Paul Steele heads the International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s environmental initiatives. He says biofuels were successfully tested last year and could become certified for safety by 2011. Ten years from now, Mr Steele says the airline industry will be using 6 percent biofuels.

"It may seem painfully slow, but over the last three years we've come a huge way from something that was a dream, to something that is now a reality."

Listen to the interview with Paul Steele

Jeff Gazzard thinks that the aeroplane companies are just paying lip service. His organisation, Aviation Environment Federation, has been monitoring the situation for 17 years and thinks that there are real flaws to the hopes of replacing kerosene with algae oil.

"We simply don't have the answers, yet we have an industry saying, 'This will happen.' And nobody knows that."

Listen to the interview with Jeff Gazzard

top photo: A C-5 military aircraft built by Lockheed. Photo by brentdanley on flickr.com.

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