The
race for finding new resources in order to create biofuels has been an ongoing
battle due to the depletion of oil and the increase of greenhouse gasses. The
US Energy Information notes that the total petroleum consumed by the world was
estimated from 2010-2013 to be around 89406.6 thousands of barrels per day with
the UK having 1402.7 thousand per day and the US 18490.2. Due to this high
consumption of oil by the Western World, C02 emissions have risen as well. The US Energy Information notes that in 2011 C02 worldwide 11,407.68 Million Metric Tons
were estimated to have been emitted (World growth, 2011, p. 17). North America
was cited to have contributed 2,855.721 Million Metric tons while Europe was
noted to have contributed 2,002.883 Million Metric Tons due to the consumption
of Petroleum (US Energy Information, 2006, oil production and consumption
section). These ecological and environmental damages due to the mass
consumption of oil from the Western World that have led towards the want to
find renewable energy.
Palm
oil, made from the red fruit known as “palm fruit”, has become a thriving
business. Produced in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia as the top exporter in the
world, the production of palm has become a booming industry within the past 20
years due to this want and desire from the Western World for products such as
margarine, frying oil, soap, lipstick, cookies as well as biofuel. Block notes that in 2009 the crop of
palm oil was in demand for 2.2 million per year, with the UK and the US as their
primary consumers (Block, 2009, p.1).
The
production of palm oil didn’t start off as a collaborative merger. The Showtime
documentary, Years of living dangerously,
explained how politics established this relationship. During the 1960s-90s
dictatorship took Indonesia’s “state forest zone” land and parceled them out to
big companies (from the Western World) such as Cargill and Wilmar
International. These companies then leveled
the forest for the mass production of palm oil (Weird, 2014, episode 1). According to NASA, deforestation is the third
largest cause for the increase of greenhouse gases. NASA explains further in
the documentary that greenhouse gases produce twenty percent of all emissions. Indonesia
was shown in the documentary to have the highest amount of greenhouse gases due
deforestation, producing black carbon that can be seen from outer space (Weird,
2014, episode 1).
Once
Indonesia became an independent state, the current minister of forestry of
Indonesia recognized the environmental and ecological damage being made by the
production of this crop and vowed to make a change. A law was put in place making the production
of paper and palm oil illegal. Instead, of diminishing or stopping the
production of palm oil, its production has actually increased. The documentary
cites that the minister’s authority is limited and that the economy would shift
completely if the production was halted (Weird, 2014, episode 1). The wants and needs for the production of
palm oil from the Western World has not only pressured the Indonesian
government and economy, but has also increased its production. “Oil palm is
such a lucrative crop that there is almost no way to stop it” Scientist William
Laurence notes that he expects the crop to double its production by 2030
(Gilbert, 2012, p. 14). World growth states that in May of 2010
the Indonesian government signed a deal with the Norwegian Government to impose
a two year moratorium aimed at reducing greenhouse gases, which in return
Norway would invest in $1 billion in forest conservation projects in Indonesia
(World growth, 2011, p. 19). The land available for these efforts of conservation
is unfortunately limited due to this high production of palm oil.
According to Webster’s Dictionary the
term “biofuel” is defined as “a fuel derived directly
from living matter.”
Currently, the UK and US are debating about what this term means and how
eco-friendly a product, such as biofuel, has to be in order to be considered
truly “green”. The US’s Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Union (EU) have on ruling and
marketing that palm oil is listed as a renewable fuel. The EU “continues to
encourage the use of fuels based on palm oil” and is expected to blend biofuel
such as pam oil with conventional oil in order to reach their target to raise
the shore of biofuels used in road transport to 10% by 2020. The US on the
other had has suggested that oil should not be classified as a renewable fuel,
but has not set a date to issue its final ruling (Gilbert, 2012, p. 2). World growth’s article as well as Gilbert’s
note that the branding of palm oil in the US and its products are generally
labeled under “vegetable oil” instead of the fruit itself. The creation of biofuel is supposed to be a
step closer to being environmentally friendly due to decrease on the dependency
of crude oil. With decrease of one
natural resource for mass consumption (crude oil), the increase of the
dependence of another natural resource has to increase. With knowledge about
the production of palm oil and its ecological and environmental damage, is its
production as biofuel actually a step forwards or backwards?
Natasha
Gilbert explains further in her article the implications of palm oil due to the
increase of deforestation in order to plant large amounts of the fruit. She
cites that in principle, biodiesel could be environmental friendly but because
of its production process she deems it to be “less than environmentally
friendly”. Large amounts of the forest are being cut down which often contain
carbon-rich peat lands are releasing extra stores of CO2 due to deforestation.
The production of palm oil is also cited to have been an attributing factor for
27% of the world’s deforestation during the year 2007-08 (Gilbert, 2012, p. 2). K.M Carlson notes in his article that the
rise of deforestation, due to palm oil, is predicted to rise in 2020 from 27%
to 40%. This has resulted in violent clashes with local village leaders and
government arranged communities such as NGO’s due to the division of land and
destruction of indigenous communities (Carlson, year). In addition to these clashes, breathing air
has become intolerable in the northern parts of Indonesia, where debris can be
seen floating in the air due to deforestation. “Pneumonia, asthma, eye and skin
irritation have increased with air quality reaching dangerous levels in the northern
regions of the country” states Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesperson at
Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (RTTC, 2014, paragraph 21).
Humans
aren’t the only ones that are suffering due to deforestation. The World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) and their animal protection services is an example of how
efforts of conservation have been stopped by the Indonesian government due to
the want and need of mass production of palm oil. Land deemed as “National
parks”, which by law are protected by the government, have conflicts between
wildlife and palm oil companies. The documentary Years of Living Dangerously and WWF cite that many elephant herds
have been poisoned due to land invasion and that orangutans are on the brink of
extinction because of deforestation (Weird, 2014, episode 1).
What
could be seen as potentially environmentally friendly, rearing away towards the
mass consumption of crude oil, could be (potentially) more environmentally
damaging than the dependency, production and use of oil alone. It needs to be
taken into account that this is a complicated issue when it comes to even
suggesting to end or diminish the production of a crop that a country relies so
heavily on their economy with. Goenadi estimates that employment in Indonesia
due to the production of palm oil is estimated to have reached over 6 million
lives, taking them out of poverty. In addition with the production of palm oil
has helped workers secure incomes and allow for the access of healthcare and
education (World growth, 2011, p. 19)
This
year, after a 12 year delay, the Indonesian Parliament agreed to ratify a
cross-boundary treaty between South East Asian nations to combat the haze due
to slash-burn techniques in order to produce large amount of palm fruits (RTTC,
2014, paragraph 15). It is this step, even though it may be small, towards the
future with less pollution that Gilbert mentions at the end of her article. “Consumer
pressure could encourage companies to change their practices” (Gilbert, 2012,
p. 2). Informing these customers,
especially that from the Western World, on the complexity of palm oil needs to
take place before change can occur. “What most Americans don’t know is that these
(American) products (such as Starbucks and Domino’s) contain palm oil” says
Calen May-Tobin, lead analyst for UCS’s Tropical Forest and Climate Initiative (RTTC,
2014, paragraph 21). By informing
consumers of palm-oil based products, definitions of what a “green consumer”
and “biofuel” can be determined, allowing for the process of palm-oil to be
extensively looked at.
Works Cited
Block,
Ben. (2009). Life-cycle studies. World Watch, 22 (4). 1.
Exploitative
Labor Practices in the Global Palm Oil Industry. (2013). Retrieved from www.humanityunited.org.
Gilbert, N. (2012). Palm-oil Boom Raises Conservation Concerns: Industry
Urged towards sustainable Farming Practices as Rising Demand Drives
Deforestation. 14-15. Retrieved
from http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html
Center for Science in the Public
Interest. (n.d.). Palm oil report. Retrieved from http://www.cspinet.org/palm/
Responding to Climate Change. (2014).
Palm oil producers blamed as smog chokes Indonesia.
Retrieved from http://www.rtcc.org/2014/03/06/palm-oil-producers-blamed-as-smog-chokes-indonesia/
U.S. Energy Information
Administration. (2014). Independent
statistics & analysis: 2012. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy.
Retrieved from http://www.eia.gov/countries/index.cfm?view=production
Weird, P. (Director). (2014, April 6).
Premier [Television series episode]. In B. Cameron, J., Schwarzenegger, A.,
& Weintraub, J (Producers), Years of
living dangerously. Showtime.
World Growth. (2011). The economic benefit of palm oil to Indonesia.
Palm oil green development campaign. 1-27.
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