With 620 million cars worldwide and fossil fuels running out, are biofuels the green solution to our energy needs? Now there's a revolution going on in the garages of the UK as individuals and companies switch to biofuels. Retired teacher Dick Jones makes his own biofuel, to power his people carrier from the local pub's converted chip fat. Although the chemicals involved are potentially dangerous, the rewards can be worth it. Jones says he likes "the idea of using a waste product to make oil, and I like the idea of being energy independent, but it also saves a lot of money". It costs him some £21 for a tank of home-made bio-diesel, compared with £80 at the garage. Growing phenomenon Businesses including McDonalds and Stagecoach are starting to experiment with biofuels. # UK Biofuel consumption 2004 - 21 million litres # 2005 - 118 million litres # 200 - 264 million litres # 2006 - 264 million litres # 2007 - 500 million litres Source: HM Revenue & Customs They are both trialling fuels made from used cooking oil. But unfortunately there is not enough used chip fat to power our entire economy, which is why biofuels made from food crops like maize, wheat, palm oil and rapeseed, are seen by some as the answer. The justification is when the plant-derived biofuel is burned in an engine, the CO2 released is offset by the amount of the gas that the plants absorbed as they grew. Previously, only Brazil (and at one point Zimbabwe) made fuel from sugar cane, but now the US and Europe see biofuels as the way forward. The UK Government has said that by 2010 5% all UK fuel should come from biofuels. The EU has gone even further, setting a target of 10% by 2020. Food or fuel But how are we going to reach those targets? Critics argue it will mean diverting crops from food to fuels. Will the knock-on effect be a hike in the prices of cereal and grains which hit those already living in poverty hardest? Greenpeace's John