Biofuels like Palm Oil not Eco-Friendly

Palm Oil has been used as a commodity for over 3,000 years, early uses in the Egyptian times included food, soap and candles.
British and Northern European business interests developed the palm oil industry in Southeast Asia in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. The managers of these plantations worked hard to improve quality and efficiency of products and processes while keeping labor cost low. Profits went to corporate investors back in Europe. Corporate money had more influence in local politics than did indigenous people.
Innovative scare tactics were used to keep plantation workers afraid and willing to surrender personal freedoms. Threats of terrorism by “communist rebels” would have plantation workers seeing and hearing boogey men in the night. They became willing to surround themselves with barbed wire and live in a self-imposed prison (Martin S. p.274-278).
Palm oil is dark red, aromatic and strongly flavored. It did not gain large-scale commercial use as a food product until World War II. Shortages of certain fats in the United States and Europe prompted the development of new uses as substitutes for a variety of fats by adding coloring, flavorings, and blending with different oils (Martin S. p.323-324).
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Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil are commodities pressed from the fruit and seed of the Oil Palm. They are used in the production of soap, vegetable oil, bio-diesel and can be refined into replacements for petroleum chemicals.
The Oil Palm is native to North Africa and because it has a variety of uses it is now the major cash crop in Southeast Asia and is displacing native species plants and animals in Southeast Asia tropical rainforests. The increasing demand for Palm Oil has led to the burning of reserved tropical rainforests and severe air pollution in Sumatra, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Today 80% of palm oil produced is used in food products including baked goods, instant noodles, cake mixes, baby formula, potato chips, French fries, margarine, confections, shortening and other foods (Malaysian Palm Oil Council).
The demand for Palm Oil is expected to increase rapidly in the near future because of increased awareness of global warming, economic and political consequences of dependency on fossil fuels, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations requiring labeling of Trans Fat.
The FDA required manufactures to start labeling trans fatty acid content in foods beginning January 1, 2006. Trans fat is the result of partially hydrogenating vegetable oil and is a major cause of heart disease.
The increased pubic awareness of health risks associated with trans fat is motivating many food manufacturers to switch from hydrogenated vegetable oils to palm oil for uses which need a solid oil.

Palm oil does not have as severe an effect on health as trans fat, but it is still high in saturated fat and low in polyunsaturated fat:
Biomedical research indicates that palm oil, which is high in saturated fat and low in polyunsaturated fat, promotes heart disease. Though less harmful than partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, it is far more conducive to heart disease than such heart-protective liquid oils as olive, soy, and canola (Center for Science in the Public Interest,4).
Several websites (Example: www.palmoilworld.org February 12, 2007) promoted palm oil as healthy, but when cited source were checked a different conclusion occurred:
Diets containing different lipid sources--partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (PHVO), palm oil (PO), canola oil (CO), and soy oil (SO)--were fed to lactating rats during the 21 days of lactation, and then fed to young males following weaning until the 45th day of life.... Carcass fat content was significantly higher in PHVO and PO groups than in CO and SO groups (A. Silva, D. Guimaraes, ect., 535).
Palm oil can be separated, without chemical processing, into mostly saturated fats (solid) and a small amount of polyunsaturated fats (liquid oil) by stabilizing it at a certain temperature and using a centrifuge to force the liquid through a filter. When the separated liquid oil is tested it is found to have many health benefits such as carotenoids (pro Vitamin A), tocotrienols and tocopherols (Vitamin E) and no cholesterol (E. de Moraes, M. Alvare, M. Maciel, R. Maciel Filho, 129-132).


The process of oil separation adds to the expense of the product, but the excess solid fat may be converted into bio-diesel with further refining. Most palm oil food uses require solid fat that counteracts the benefits proclaimed by palm oil advocates.
According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council website, www.americanpalmoil.com, non-food uses of palm oil can be divided into two categories direct use and products derived from chemicals processed from palm oil. Soaps, plastics, drilling mud and even palm based diesel substitute are examples of direct use products. Candles, lotions, body oils, shampoos, skin care products, rubber and cleaning products use oleochemicals processed from palm oil.
Demand for non-food uses are expected to increasing rapidly compared to food uses in the near future. According to the United States Agriculture Department (USDA), “The main growth market for palm oil is reportedly as fuel for the production of ‘green energy’.” The report goes on to say palm oil may not be appropriate as a bio-diesel in temperate climates because it is semi-solid at room temperature. Mixing palm oil with diesel or other unsaturated oils would lower the temperature the fuel would solidify at. (B. Flach, 2)
Much of the increasing demand for palm oil as a commodity is as a bio-fuel driven by the realization that global warming is real.
Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 8).
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The image of palm trees swaying in the breeze seems calming and natural. But what activities hide behind the seductive images? The terms “bio-fuel” or “green friendly” have been co-opted by corporations to present an ecological friendly image. Theoretically carbon dioxide emitted, while burning for fuel, is equal to the carbon dioxide absorbed while growing. That is until we add in the methods used to clear land for cultivation.
Bioenergy provides an irreversible mitigation benefit when it displaces fossil fuels. Mitigation benefits of afforestation or forest protection will be lost if deforestation occurs (Madlener R. (eds), Schlamadinger B., and Waupotitsch M. 597).
The clearing of rain forests for the cultivation of oil palms increases atmospheric green house gases. The land being converted to growing Oil Palms is rain forest growing in peat swamps. Draining and drying the peat swamps releases the carbon dioxide and methane stored in the peat. “...space for the expanding palm plantations was often created by draining and burning peatland, which sent huge amounts of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.” (Rosenthal E.,1).
Corporations are slash burning Indonesian forests to clear land and grow palm trees for palm oil. The residual peat fires burning underground have created smog problems across Indonesia and Malaysia. Burning is seven to ten times cheaper than clearing the land by hand or mechanical means.
Since the 1970s, the area planted with oil palm in Indonesia has grown over 30-fold to almost 12,000 square miles. In Malaysia, the area devoted to oil palm has increased 12-fold to 13,500 square miles (Center for Science in the Public Interest,4).
This is illegal but the Indonesian government has been ineffective at controlling the practice. “As for the big companies, some of them have signed agreements with the government to stop burning land” Stated an editorial in The Jarkarta Post, and it goes on to explain the catch, “Now we have to check whether they are still involved in the recent fires. That's why the burning is still widespread” The burning locations are in remote areas and when the landowner or plantation manager is confronted by authorities for burning down forests they merely reply “show us the witnesses” (Jakarta Post,1).
Indonesia has been plagued with corruption. Corporations with key connections can slow legislation or get local enforcement agencies to look the other way. Indonesia has been rated the most corrupt nation in the world 2 times in the last ten years by Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI). TI produces annual reports by surveying business people and bureaucrats about their perceptions of the degree of corruption in 163 countries on a scale of zero to ten, ten being squeaky clean and zero being extreme corruption. Indonesia rated a 2.4 in the TICPI 2006 report(3).
In addition to health and climate change concerns habitats for several endangered species are being depleted possibly to the point of no return.
America's drive for energy independence and clean air could threaten orangutans, Sumatran tigers, elephants, rhinoceroses and the world's largest butterflies. All could be hurt as the rainforests of Southeast Asia are cleared to produce palm oil for use in biodiesel ( Blumenthal L).

By focusing on the narrow perspective of what is efficient, most productive and therefore produces the highest profit, corporation are capable of having a tremendously negative effect on societies, ecologies and individual health. A raw capitalistic drive must be balanced by a transparent government and public awareness of the social, ecological and health consequences of their consumption.














Sources Cited
Alvare M., de Moraes E., Maciel M., Maciel Filho R., “Simulation and optimization of a supercritical extraction process for recovering provitamin A”, Spring 2006 129-132
Blumenthal L. “Biodiesel made from palm oil isn't as `green' as hoped” McClatchy-Tribune News Service: Knight Ridder Washington Bureau Mar. 9, 2007: Lexis-Nexis Mar. 12, 2007.
Center for Science in the Public Interest “‘Cruel Oil’ Report Exposes Palm Oil's Impact on Health & Environment” June 2, 2005, Feb. 10, 2007
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Flach B., GAIN Report, United States Agriculture Department. June 8, 2005 p.2
Food and Drug Administration, February 15, 2007
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change “Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis”, Feb. 2007 p. 8.
Jakarta Post Editorial Board. “We Must Do More to Educate People About Open Burning” The Jakarta Post. Sept. 4, 2006 LexisNexis.Portland State University Lib.,Portland, OR. Feb. 12, 2007

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Madlener R. (eds), Schlamadinger B., and Waupotitsch M. “Greenhouse gas balances of bioenergy systems: A bibliography on greenhouse gas balances of bioenergy, forestry, wood products, land use, and land-use change”. September 1999, second edition, p.597
Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Feb. 10, 2007
Martin S. The UP Saga. Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Press, 2003
Rosenthal E. “Once a Dream Fuel, Palm Oil May Be an Eco-Nightmare” New York Times Jan. 31, 2007 Section C, p.1 Column 3, Lexis-Nexis.Feb.15, 2007
Silva A., Guimaraes D., ect., “Lipids.” Health Affairs. 41(6):2006 Jun; 535-41
Transparency International. “2006 Corruption Perceptions Index: CPI 2006 Complete Table Stats and Country Sources” Feb. 12, 2007