Palm Oil: A Big No-No?
In my last article, “The World As We Know It”, I briefly covered the area of resource depletion and the factors coming into play there. If you haven’t read it yet, here’s a bit of a recap for you:
(side note: it is better if you do read the previous article.)
I had mentioned the rates of consumption of natural resources, like coal, oil and gas, being much higher than the rates of their production, especially given the way we drain their reserves like someone starved off food and water in the desert just reached an all-you-can-eat buffet. Which contributes to the *MAJOR* fossil fuel crisis that we are currently facing.
As people realised this fact, research went into developing alternatives. And that’s where we figured out another use to palm oil. But, what is palm oil?
Palm oil is obtained from oil palm trees, more specifically from the pulp of their fruit. Most palm oil is generated from the African oil palm tree, Elaeis guineensis. Palm oil was and continues to be typically used as cooking oil. But, as I mentioned above, it can also be used as an alternative to fossil fuel, though not on its own. Palm oil is a vital component in making biodiesel, and the remaining organic matter left from processing is also used to provide energy as biomass. Pretty cool and sustainable, right?
WRONG!
Here’s how it’s not so sustainable anymore. Since realising that palm oil is an environmentally sound resource, demand for it in the form of biodiesel shot up. Big time. It didn’t help that palm oil was also widely used as a cheaper substitute for butter or in food items where solid fats were desirable. Since the oil is obtained from the African tree, it tends to grow well and flourish in tropical regions. Many tropical nations saw it as a chance to be self-sustaining fuel-wise, and also generate some crazy revenue.
Indonesia and Malaysia could be called the greatest success stories in this situation. These countries are the top two producers for palm oil, Indonesia coming out on top. In 2012, their combined annual revenue was $40 billion.
Seeing how successful the whole production was, naturally both these countries wished to expand the business. But maybe they expanded it too much?
This expansion is exactly what has lead to their ecological downfall. hectares of the natural rainforests are being cleared to make space for huge palm tree plantations. The loss of natural flora and fauna is devastating. Orangutans and Sumatran tigers are facing extinction, given that their homes are being so ruthlessly stripped away. Other animals under similar threat are also the Sun Bears, Pygmy Elephants, Clouded Leopards and the Proboscis Monkeys.
Not just the loss of biodiversity, but the method of forest clearance also causes some major problems. Forests are burned away; this releases so much heat and increases the atmospheric store of carbon dioxide, and hence contributes to global warming. (It is also a serious waste of energy.)
Arguments in favour of the palm oil production are centred around the fact that they bring development and jobs to rural areas. Real jobs, which involve hard manual labour and substandard working conditions with very shitty pay, and hey, that also employ children! Some real good exposure they get, right? #humanrightsviolationiscool
I’m not saying that palm oil is bad. If we really think about it, it’s a fairly practical solution. What I’m saying is that it is only us humans that are capable of taking an extremely safe resource, and turning it into another worldwide disaster. As is we didn’t have enough on our (tectonic) plate already.
P.S. Go Google each of the animals I’ve mentioned in this article. I dare you not to go *AWWWW*
