08/06/2008 11:27 AM

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A Vacation with a Purpose Page 2

Dr. Smits's research suggests that sugar palm can produce 19 tons of ethanol per hectare per year (or much more with selection), far outdistancing oil palm, which can produce 4.7 tons, and jatropha, which can produce 4.3 tons-both of which are typically considered excellent crops for biofuels (sugar cane, by comparison, produces about 3.5 tons of ethanol).

But those fuel crops are suitable for monoculture, and rainforest is often cleared for oil-palm plantations (in Borneo, generally as an excuse, not an intention: the hidden central aim is to steal timber). Sugar palm, requiring diverse forest around it to flourish, is thus a way to grow the energy crop-and scores of important medicinal and other crops- while protecting, not destroying, biodiversity.

Making biofuel from sugar palm would also create a lot of jobs. According to Dr. Smits's calculations, sugar palms provide at least 50 times more jobs per hectare than making biofuel from sugar cane because of the manual tapping. That tapping, he concludes, "is affordable due to the [sugar palm's] much higher productivity."

Cottage biofuels industry or not, Lovins says the main takeaways from his trip are: "Yes, you can restore rainforests, which are vital to biodiversity and climate, and you can integrate ecological and economic and cultural restoration very successfully by making the welfare of the local people your top priority. [It's] kind of like Gandhi-ji's remark that if you look after the poorest, everything else will look after itself."

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FROM RMI Solutions Journal, a SustainableBusiness.com Content Partner.

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