Like it or not, biofuels are coming to a petrol pump near you soon. They are being touted by governments, oil companies and car manufacturers as a green solution to people’s fuel problems. In two years, five per cent of all the fuel sold in the UK will be biofuel. However, critics say it’s actually environmentally damaging and growing crops such as corn and sugar cane for fuel diverts land from food production. The Money Programme meets the businesses and consumers who have invested in the so-called green fuel and investigates what’s at stake in the battle for a greener future.

Throughout Britain, people are experimenting with alternative fuels. Presenter Libby Potter meets drivers such as Dick Jones, who makes his own biodiesel from waste cooking oil, saving him 70p a litre. She also takes a ride with bus operator Stagecoach, which is trialling its “biobus”, a vehicle that runs on a mixture of waste cooking oil and animal fats. Chief Executive Brian Souter says that although the bus smells like a bistro, it’s making carbon savings of up to 85 per cent.

The car industry is also developing cars that can run on 85 per cent bioethanol – but are these cars any good? The programme road tests the latest vehicles from Saab and Ford.

Libby also travels to Sweden to get a glimpse of a biofuel future. There, biofuel cars have entered the mainstream after the government introduced free parking and free congestion charge in Stockholm as an incentive.

The rise in the use of biofuels is not without controversy and is angering many who claim that it’s not as green as it seems and, instead of saving the planet, it’s damaging sensitive habitats and taking crops out of the food chain.

Who will win in the great green fuel debate and what is at stake as people search for a solution to their dependence on oil?

Friday 14 March
7.00-7.30pm BBC TWO