Palm oil - future fuel or ecological disaster?

Considered to be one of the best biofuels to help limit the effects of global warming, palm oil is the cause of deforestation. Everyday forests "fall" to make room for palm plantations to extract oil for cheap fuel production. Environmentalists estimate that within 15 years, 98% of tropical forests in Indonesia and Malaysia will disappear along with a number of rare wildlife species.

In the 6 million-hectare forest on Borneo (Indonesia), about 250,000 hectares are reserved for government palm oil. But according to Willie Smits, founder of satellite map service SarVision statistics on the rate of forest degradation. Indonesia aims to increase the current planting area of ​​6.5 million hectares to double in the next 5-8 years and triple by 2020. It is estimated that every year, this island nation has 2.8 million hectares of forests. planting palm trees.

So far, palm oil - with 83% of production in Indonesia and Malaysia - is mainly used as food. However, the European Union (EU) aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, which requires 10% of vehicles using biofuels, causing demand for palm oil. higher. Many EU countries have increased subsidies for production of this renewable energy source and since 2002, the amount of palm oil imported into this block has increased by 65%.

Nursing of palm trees in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.(Photo: WWF)

This situation could lead to the risk of destroying the rainforest and wiping out rare wildlife such as Asian elephants, Sumatran tigers and orangutans in Borneo, due to the dwindling residence. Because orangutans love to eat young palm leaves, the owners of the hunting plantations are merciless. According to the United Nations report, the number of orangutans in the Indonesian and Malaysian forests declined so quickly that 98% of individuals could disappear by 2022.

Palm oil combined with diesel produces a biofuel that benefits the environment because palm oil produces organic mixtures that, when burned in the engine, do not increase the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ). CO ₂ is absorbed by palm trees in the growth cycle, thereby balancing the amount of gas escaping when burning. Palm oil is also attractive in a rich supply and cheap price (about 550 USD / ton), while the production process does not need to improve many technologies. Last year, palm oil production in the world increased by 6.6% and is expected to increase 5.5% this year to 37 million tons. The price of palm oil has increased by 35% last year and is currently increasing.

However, the deeper the study of the fuel thought to benefit this ecosystem, the scientists realized many adverse effects . Researchers from Wetland International (Netherlands) found that 50% of the newly harvested palm oil plantations released large amounts of CO ₂ due to burnt and rainy soil. For example, the moist peat layer in Central Kalimantan province on Borneo serves as a giant organic ' sponge ' that absorbs a lot of carbon dioxide. The withdrawal of irrigation water for plantations or making roads to transfer timber makes this mud layer dry, releasing carbon gas accumulated in the soil. In Indonesia alone, peat has ' released ' 600 million tons of CO ₂ each year from wetlands.

Worse, CO ₂ from large forest fires formed a layer of smog that covered much of Southeast Asia. Estimates of Indonesian forest fires produce 1,400 tons of CO2 per year. Indonesia becomes the third largest CO ₂ producer in the world, including the above two causes. Environmentalists fear that monoculture of palm trees cannot support the diversity of wildlife, and the environment will fall into disasters. Meanwhile, the local people who live on palm oil can ' stand down ' if this product is no longer popular.

N.MINH