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Home Latest Bio Energy News Al Gore warns against negative effects of biofuels

Former US Vice President Al Gore spoke in Argentina about the pros and cons of biofuels as a means to combat global climate change. Gore was talking to representatives of the biofuel industry in a Buenos Aires hotel. He warned that the drive to produce alternative fuels must not create new forms of environmental damage. Recently, it has become more clear that in many cases biodiesel is produced in an unsustainable way. Especially in Indonesia and Malaysia, oil palm plantations have caused massive deforestation. The government is encouraging more forest clearing to meet the growing demand for palm oil.

Speaking in Argentina yesterday, Gore, whose global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth won an Academy Award this year, said: "Every potential solution much be handled carefully and the danger with biofuels is that extremely valuable forests will be destroyed unnecessarily. "Another danger is that, if it is not pursued carefully, it will drive food prices up." US President George Bush has announced that he intends to reduce gasoline consumption by 20% in 2017. This would require 35 billion gallons of alternative fuels to replace fossil fuels.

Not only are the concerns in the industrialized world. South American sceptics worry that the production of biofuels from corn, sugarcane, palm oil and other agricultural products will cause environmental damage and worsen the already severe environmental problems in the third world. As Gore was giving his speech, demonstrators on bicycles and wearing surgical masks were protesting outside against multinational agribusinesses. They said that large scale biofuel production will cause deforestation.