Algal biofuel hopes

the world's smallest. The giant rat is about the size of a cat and has been classified as belonging to the Mallomys genus of rodents. The region has the largest area of tropical forest without roads or trails. Its isolation is helped by its steep mountain slopes and difficult terrain. The Foja mountains rise to 2,200 metres and, although humans live at the base of the mountains, abundant game available for tribes at these lower levels has helped prevent local people venturing up the mountains in search of food. Western scientists have made several visits in recent years to the region with the help of helicopters. The first researchers described a scene of many unknown plants and animals that were unafraid of humans. But the pressures on tropical forest regions continues to grow, in spite of increasing concern, as raised at last month's Bali climate conference. And as the media celebrated the discovery of the new mammals, plans were announced for major expansion of oil palm plantations in Papua New Guinea, the eastern half of the island. New Britain Palm Oil, Australasia's largest producer of palm oil, announced plans to raise funds on the London Stock market to double its 40,000 hectares of plantations in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Isles. Over the past year, the price of palm oil has almost doubled from around $580 per tonne to $950 per tonne. The increase is due to a number of factors, including rising interest from biofuel producers, as well as huge demand from China and India as an ingredient for a range of foods. Competition for land for other crops such as soybeans has also pushed up the value of potential plantation land. While the Foja mountains may yet remain too remote for development, the threat to neighbouring, more accessible forests is rising. With Western economies in turmoil over rising oil prices and credit problems, it was an irony for conservationists that the recommended stock for investors this year by an economist in one British newspaper was that of New Britain Palm Oil, regarded as having beneficial tax advantages and " some of the best plantations in the world ". Tropical forest conservation faces an increasingly tough battle. Programs aiming to produce biofuel from farmed crops came under attack last year, amidst fears that they might affect food prices and turn out less than perfectly green in terms of …