Alternative Sources of Energy that Could Power the Fight Against Global Warming.

Rainforests may also hold the key to providing the world with clean energy sources through the production of highly-efficient biofuels, including ethanol, biodiesel, and biomass.

With their year-round growing season, tropical rainforests have a valuable competitive advantage over the colder parts of the rest of the world. Brazil already produces approximately 4 billion gallons of ethanol a year from sugarcane, representing over 37% of the world's total. Because parts of the sugarcane plant are used both to fertilize the fields and to fire up the distilleries, ethanol made from sugarcane uses much less fossil fuel to produce ethanol than corn from Europe and America.

Another rainforest-grown biofuel source with significant potential is the fatty oil from kernels of the babassu nuts, which is similar to coconut oil. With further research and development, babassu biofuel may also have global applications as an alternative to petroleum.

The Raintrust Foundation will be supporting research and development of biofuels that can be extracted in an ecologically-sound manner, to help alleviate global fuel shortages while conserving the environment and improving the livelihoods of rainforest inhabitants.