I went to a conference on biofuels last week. Organised by Bayer CropScience, the day operated under Chatham House Rules, so I can’t tell you what anyone said!

However, what I can say is that I walked in a total layman and came out with the distinct impression that I was on a par with the experts in understanding the likely direction of the sector in UK terms. Nobody knows.

David Miliband may have recently told anyone who cared to listen that the UK needs to “kick its addiction” to oil-based fuels. But his friends at the Treasury have until now steadfastly refused to raise the biofuel subsidy from 20p to 40p a litre, a lack of backing which has stopped development more or less dead in its tracks.

With progress painfully slow, the negative press has begun to surface - pointing out that the expansion of the biofuel industry will reduce the amount of land available for food crops, reducing the food available and increasing prices.

One participant even labelled biofuels the “new GM”. Brace yourselves, Guardian readers.

There is no direction to UK biofuel policy, but other European nations, notably Germany, subsidise the socks off the opportunity and back their farmers in the process. There is also no commitment to create demand for the product, leaving private investors to make decisions against a constantly moving set of goalposts. If I had the money, I know what I’d do.