Biofuels have been a major topic of discussion at the American Farm Bureau Federation 90th annual meeting in San Antonio this week.

A conference titled “The Growing Role of Biofuels for Today, Tomorrow and Beyond,” featured Brooke Coleman, executive director of the New Fuels Alliance and spokesperson for FoodPriceTruth.

“Agriculture is the key to the new energy economy,” Coleman said. “Biofuels are the key to agricultural revitalization.”

According to Coleman, the biofuels industry has survived a well-orchestrated smear campaign led by food makers and environmental groups and even though the economy has taken a serious downturn, renewable energy is poised for continued growth.

He said many ethanol and biodiesel companies have cash reserves to transition through the current tough times, the cost of breaking down their feedstocks is coming down and several new biofuel plants making advanced ethanol from non-grain feedstocks are coming online.