The replacement of woods in countries of south America for monocultivations of fase growing trees Duch as eucaliptos or pines, or for the “fuel-plants-” such as soy bean, maize, cane sugar and so many others, known as “ green cancer” in South Africa is converting our most fertil lands and biodiversity into deserts, and several million country folk and aborigenes into unwanted nomads, with serious problems of wellbeing, food, and uprooting among other things. Forestal monocultivation is hiding an envioronmental prejudice bigger than the paper paste production plants they were planted for

In 1987 a forestal law was passed in Uruguay whose object was the promotion of large scale plantationes of these trees. In 2005, the country had 800.000 hectáres planted, for the most part, eucaliptos. In the case of Argentina, the eucaliptos plantations have been concentrated in the provinces de Corrientes y Entre Ríos, reaching in the year 2005, the none too despisable figure of 220.000 ha between them.

The province of Misiones is described as the “main forestal province of the country”. Originally, the province had 2.7 millon hectares of tropical jungle, but at present it is estimated at 1.2 millones. More than 350 000 ha. Have been replazed by pines and another so many by fuel-plants. From the agrotoxines and the contamination, in Misiones, 5 out of every 1000 children are born with deformationes.

Monocultures, besides contaminating are also dehydrating the land. The hieght of the eucalipto trunk is igual to the length of its roots, It grows very fase as it has long roots cazable of extracting large quantities of water from the ground and the underground water levels. The rural producers are already noting serious problems for getting the water they need for their crops.

In the case of fuel-plants, the subject is even more serious, especially from the point of view of promotion that has been put out in its favour. As in a false environmental make-up, the use of agrofuels as an ecological alternative to hydrocarburates.

All the studies show that the development of agrofuels does not even have a favourable energetic relationship, as for example, to produce one kilocalory of Maite fuel, you need 1,3 kilocalories of petrol. If we add to this the emisions produced by deforestation, the contamination produced by the agrotóxines and the erosion of the ground, the balance is even clearer.

Not even up to here can it really be discussed. The truth is that they are doping to convert food into fuel, and in a world with more than 1.500 nillion hungry people, this is pointing at being the biggest immoral proposal in the history of humanity.

In the heart of Borneo, the home of the orang-utan, it seems that nature is untamed and indestructable. It is all too easy to forget that it is oin fact as fragile as a butterfly’s wing, since now it is claimed that by the beginning of the 2020, the great rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra will have vanished, taking with it the home of the orang-utan, whose numbers have already halved in the last couple of decades.

The massive growth of palm oil plantations seem to be the cause of this devastation. This now lies at the heart of one of the biggest environmental controversies. For what makes this a double tragedy, is that one of the principal reasons that palm oil has become such a sought after commodity is its growing use as an alternative environmentally friendly fuel source and help reduce global warming.

Palm oil is obtained from the fruit of the African Oil Palm and has been used in west African cooking for centuries, and later as an industrial lubricant as well as being used in soaps.

In the past 15 years, global production of palm oil has trebled. For many this is a good thing as it provides a valuable income for what are poor parts of the world. And it is healthy too, rich in antioxidants. Aside from its culinary and industrial uses, palm oil also forms the raw material necessary to produced a plant derived fuel, - biodeisel.

In Borneo, the rain forest is being cleared to make place for palms to produce the oil and 80% of Indonesian Jungle clearance is carried out illegally. The forest is like a double seam of gold; first the valuable hard wood fior which there is a massive market. Secondly the land is cleared for palm oil growth which means there is no hope for the forest species.

The ironic part is that bio fuels may actually produce as much or more carbon dioxide as the fossil fuels do!

Tidal Power Project

Electrical entrepreneurs may soon harness the power of the ocean. Canada’s first free- stream tidal-power project will launch in 2006, generating environmentally friendly electricity at Race Rocks reserve off southern Vancouver Island.

A turbine with 3.5 metre blades will be anchored underwater to capture the power of tidal currents running past the rocks twicwe a day. The seven-knot current should generate 80,000 to 100,000 kilowatt hours per year – thats enough to power 8 typical B.C. homes.

Collaborating on the demonstration project, are Clean Current, which is designing and patenting the generating system, and En Cana, an independent gas company investing in the new technology.

The clean, renewable tidal energy will replace two deisel generators on Race Rock that currently powers the reserve’s quarters and a marine education centre with its science laboratory, underwater tanks, computers and underwater cameras. This will be the first sustained field testing of the technology in a harsh marine environment, and could foster more tidal power projects around the world.

The energy crisis en Indonesia has heated up the idea of cars movilized by palm oil, fat and up to 40 vegetables that scientists are investigating as substitutes fuels for petrol. Power cuts are surprising in a member country of Petrol Exporting Organization, where a liter of petrol costs 25 cents of a dollar, thanks to state subventions.

Nevertheless, petrol reserves of the country could end in 10 years at the actual rate of development if more reserves are not found, and in later years Indonesia has become more an importer of this fossil fuel than an exporter.

The unstoppable price rise of “black gold” has renewed the interest in biofuels which are already used in 5% of vehicles in Germany.. produced from vegetable oils, biodiesel is presented as a double advantage of being renewable and being ecological. Vehicles that use biodiesel let out much lower quantities of carbon dioxide and would improve air quality. Also biodiesel does not requiere modifications in actual vehicle motors and can be distributed in the same way as fossil fuels.