Palm oil
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225306350
2008-07-13T00:22:31Z
Chillysnow
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[[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 225170240 by [[Special:Contributions/60.51.35.96|60.51.35.96]] ([[User talk:60.51.35.96|talk]])
[[Image:Palm oil Ghana.jpg|thumb|right|Palm oil from Ghana with its natural dark colour visible, 2 litres]]
[[Image:Huile de palme biologique 350g.jpg|thumb|right|Palm oil block showing the lighter colour that results from boiling.]]
'''Palm oil''' is a form of edible [[vegetable oil]] obtained from the [[fruit]] of the [[oil palm]] tree. Previously the second-most widely produced edible oil, after [[soybean oil]], 28 million [[tonne]]s were produced worldwide in 2004.<ref name="usda2004">[[United States Department of Agriculture]], ''Agricultural Statistics 2004''. Table 3-51.</ref> It may have now surpassed soybean oil as the most widely produced vegetable oil in the world.<ref>Malaysian Oil Palm Statistics 2005. Malaysian Palm Oil Board.</ref> It is also an important component of many [[soap]]s, washing powders and personal care products, is used to treat [[wound]]s, and has controversially found a new use as a feedstock for [[biofuel]].
The palm fruit is the source of both palm oil (extracted from palm fruit) and '''palm kernel oil''' (extracted from the fruit seeds).
Palm oil itself is reddish because it contains a high amount of [[beta-carotene]]. It is used as [[cooking oil]], to make [[margarine]] and is a component of many processed foods. Boiling it for a few minutes destroys the [[carotenoid]]s and the oil becomes colourless.
Palm oil is one of the few vegetable oils relatively high in [[saturated fats]] (like [[coconut oil]]) and thus semi-solid at room temperature.
==History==
Palm oil (from the African [[Oil Palm]], ''Elaeis guineensis'') was long recognized in [[West Africa]]n countries, and among West African peoples it has long been in widespread use as a cooking oil. European merchants trading with West Africa occasionally purchased palm oil for use in [[Europe]], but as the oil was bulky and cheap, palm oil remained rare outside West Africa. In the [[Asante Confederacy]], state-owned [[slave]]s built large plantations of [[oil palm]] trees, while in the neighbouring [[Dahomey|Kingdom of Dahomey]], King [[Ghezo]] passed a law in 1856 forbidding his subjects from cutting down oil palms.
Palm oil became a highly sought-after commodity by [[United Kingdom|British]] traders, for use as an industrial [[lubricant]] for the machines of Britain's [[Industrial Revolution]], as well as forming the basis of [[soap]] products, such as [[Lever Brothers]]' "[[Sunlight (cleaning product)|Sunlight Soap]]", and the American [[Palmolive (soap)|Palmolive]] brand.{{Fact|date=January 2008|Isn't Palmolive a French company? Isn't it now petroleum based in the US?}} By c.1870, palm oil constituted the primary export of some West African countries such as [[Ghana]] and [[Nigeria]], although this was overtaken by [[cocoa]] in the 1880s.{{Fact|date=December 2007}}
Palm was introduced to [[Java]] by the Dutch in 1848<ref>Collins Guide to Tropical Plants, ISBN 0002191121</ref> and [[Malaysia]] (then the British colony of [[British Malaya|Malaya]]) in 1910 by Scotsman William Sime and English banker Henry Darby. The first plantations were mostly established and operated by British plantation owners, such as [[Sime Darby]]. From the 1960s a major oil palm plantation scheme was introduced by the government with the main aim of eradicating poverty. Settlers were each allocated 10 [[acre]]s of land (about 4 [[hectare]]s) planted either with oil palm or rubber, and given 20 years to pay off the debt for the land.{{Fact|date=December 2007}} The large plantation companies remained [[listing|listed]] in [[London Stock Exchange|London]] until the Malaysian government engineered their "Malaysianisation" throughout the 1960s and 1970s.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/12/22/cnmalay22.xml Malaysia targets alternative fuels market] Tom Stevenson, Daily Telegraph [[22 December]] 2006</ref>
== Chemistry and processing ==
Palm oil and palm kernel oil are composed of [[fatty acids]], [[esterified]] with [[glycerol]] just like any ordinary [[fat]]. Both are high in [[saturated]] fatty acids, about 50% and 80%, respectively. The oil palm gives its name to the 16 carbon saturated fatty acid [[palmitic acid]] found in palm oil; monounsaturated oleic acid is also a constituent of palm oil while palm kernel oil contains mainly [[lauric acid]]. Palm oil is the largest natural source of tocotrienol, part of the [[vitamin E]] family. Palm oil is also high in [[vitamin K]] and dietary [[magnesium]].{{Fact|date=December 2007}}
[[Napalm]] derives its name from [[naphthenic acid]], [[palmitic acid]] and pyrotechnics or simply from a recipe using [[naphtha]] and palm oil.
The approximate concentration of fatty acids (FAs) in palm oil is as follows:<ref>Ang, Catharina Y. W., KeShun Liu, and Yao-Wen Huang, eds. (1999). ''Asian Foods</ref>
{{bar box
|title=Fatty acid content of palm oil
|titlebar=#DDD
|left1=Type of fatty acid
|right1=pct
|width=400px
|barwidth=200px
|bars=
{{bar percent|[[palmitic acid|Palmitic]] C16|green|44.3}}
{{bar percent|[[stearic acid|Stearic]] C18|green|4.6}}
{{bar percent|[[myristic acid|Myristic]] C14|green|1.0}}
{{bar percent|[[oleic acid|Oleic]] C18|blue|38.7}}
{{bar percent|[[linoleic acid|Linoleic]] C18|orange|10.5}}
{{bar percent|Other/Unknown|red|0.9}}
|caption=''green'': Saturated; ''blue'': Mono unsaturated; ''orange'': Poly unsaturated
}}
{{bar box
|title=Fatty acid content of palm kernel oil
|titlebar=#DDD
|left1=Type of fatty acid
|right1=pct
|width=400px
|barwidth=200px
|bars=
{{bar percent|[[lauric acid|Lauric]] C12|green|48.2}}
{{bar percent|[[myristic acid|Myristic]] C14|green|16.2}}
{{bar percent|[[palmitic acid|Palmitic]] C16|green|8.4}}
{{bar percent|[[decanoic acid|Capric]] C10|green|3.4}}
{{bar percent|[[caprylic acid|Caprylic]] C8|green|3.3}}
{{bar percent|[[stearic acid|Stearic]] C18|green|2.5}}
{{bar percent|[[oleic acid|Oleic]] C18|blue|15.3}}
{{bar percent|[[linoleic acid|Linoleic]] C18|orange|2.3}}
{{bar percent|Other/Unknown|red|0.4}}
|caption=''green'': Saturated; ''blue'': Mono unsaturated; ''orange'': Poly unsaturated
}}
Fatty acids are saturated and unsaturated aliphatic carboxylic acids with carbon chain
length in the range of C6 up to C24. An example of a fatty acid is palmitic acid
CH3 – (CH2)14 – COOH
Splitting of oils and fats by [[hydrolysis]], or under basic conditions [[saponification]], yields fatty acids; with glycerin(glycerol) as a by-product. The split-off fatty acids are a mixture of fatty acids ranging from C6 to C18 depending on the
type of Oil / Fat.<ref> Faessler, Kolmetz, (2004). Advanced Fractionation for the Oleo Chemcial Industry ''Oil and Fat Conference</ref>.
Palm oil products are made using [[Mill (grinding)|milling]] and [[refinery|refining]] processes; first using [[fractionation]], with crystallization and separation processes to obtain a solid [[stearin]], and liquid [[olein]]. By melting and degumming, impurities can be removed and then the oil filtered and bleached.
Next, physical refining removes odours and colouration, to produce ''refined bleached deodorized palm oil'', or RBDPO, and free pure fatty acids, used as an important raw material in the manufacture of [[soap]]s, [[washing powder]] and other hygiene and personal care products.
RBDPO is the basic oil product which can be sold on the world's commodity markets, although many companies fractionate it out further into palm olein, for cooking oil, or other products.<ref>[http://www.aaj-id.com/operation.html Refining operations] PT. Asianagro Agungjaya corporate website 2007</ref>
Palm is also used in [[biodiesel production]], as either a simply-processed palm oil mixed with [[Diesel|petrodiesel]], or processed through [[transesterification]] to create a palm oil methyl ester blend which meets the international [[EN 14214]] specification, with [[glycerin]] as a by-product. The actual process used [[Biodiesel around the world|varies between countries]] and the requirements of any export markets. Second-generation [[biofuel]] production processes are also being trialled in relatively small quantities.
==Environmental, social and cultural impact==
{{See also|Forests Now Declaration}}
{{See also|Wetlands International}}
Palm oil production is a basic source of income for many of the world's rural poor in South East Asia, Central and West Africa, and Central America. An estimated 1.5 million small farmers grow the crop in Indonesia, whereas about 0.5 million people are directly employed in the sector in Malaysia, plus those connected with spin offs.<ref name=mpoa >{{cite web | format = PDF | publisher = Malaysian Palm Oil Association | date = 2005 | title = MPOA and sustainable palm oil | url = http://www.rspo.org/PDF/Communications/Public%20Forum%20KL/MPOA%20&%20Sustainable%20Palm%20Oil%20(Vengeta%20Rao%20MPOA).pdf }}</ref><ref name=forbes>{{ cite news | work = AFX News | publisher = Forbes Magazine | title = Malaysian government not concerned with rising palm oil prices - minister | date= 2007-12-16 }}</ref> Not only does the palm represent a pillar of these nation's economies but it is a catalyst for rural development and political stability. Many social initiatives use profits from palm oil to finance poverty alleviation strategies. Examples include the direct financing of Magbenteh hospital in Makeni, [[Sierra Leone]], through profits made from palm oil grown by small local farmers,<ref>[http://lion-heart.nl/wp/?p=70 E.Novation supports Lion Heart Foundation] Lion Heart Foundation, 21 June 2007</ref> the [[Presbyterian Disaster Assistance]]'s Food Security Program, which draws on a women-run cooperative to grow palm oil, the profits of which are reinvested in food security,<ref>[http://www.pcusa.org/pda/response/africa/drc-microdevru.pdf Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Democratic Republic of Congo]</ref> or the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's hybrid oil palm project in Western [[Kenya]], which improves incomes and diets of local populations,<ref>[http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/field/2003/1103_oilpalm.htm hybrid oil palm project in Western Kenya] FAO</ref> to name just a few.
In the two countries responsible for over 80% of world oil palm production, Indonesia and Malaysia, smallholders account for 35-40% of the total area of planted oil palm and as much as 33% of the output. Elsewhere, as in West African countries that produce mainly for domestic and regional markets, smallholders produce up to 90% of the annual harvest. <ref>[http://www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=13533IIED Vermeulen and Goad. 2006. Towards better practice in smallholder palm oil production. IIED]</ref>
As of 2006, the cumulative land area of palm oil plantations is approximately 11 million hectares.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/forests/problems/forest_conversion_agriculture/orang_utans_palm_oil/index.cfm
| title=Palm oil plantations already estimated at occupying 11 million hectares
| publisher= WWF (Panda.org)
| accessdate=2007-09-29
}}</ref> In 2005 the Malaysian Palm Oil Association, responsible for about half of the world's crop, estimated that they manage about half a billion perennial [[CO2 sequestration|carbon-sequestering]] palm trees.<ref name=mpoa/> Demand for palm oil has been rising and is expected to climb further.
This rising demand is resulting in [[tropical forest]] being cleared to establish new palm plantations. According to [[UNEP]],<ref>[http://www.unep.org/grasp/docs/2007Jan-LastStand-of-Orangutan-report.pdf Last Stand of Orangutan report] UNEP, Feb 2007</ref> at the current rate of intrusion into [[Indonesia]]n national parks, it is likely that many protected [[rain forest]]s will be severely degraded by [[2012]] through [[illegal hunting]] and trade, [[illegal logging|logging]], and [[forest fire]]s, including those associated with the rapid spread of palm oil plantations. There is growing concern that this will be harmful to the environment in several ways:
* Significant [[greenhouse gas]] emissions. Deforestation, mainly in tropical areas, account for up to one-third of total anthropogenic CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.<ref name="IPCC deforestation"> [http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-chapter7.pdf Fourth Assessment Report, Working Group I "The Physical Science Basis" ], Section 7.3.3.1.5 (p. 527), ''[[IPCC]]'', Retrieved {{date|2008-05-04}}</ref>
* Habitat destruction of certain endangered species (e.g. the [[orangutan]]s in [[Borneo]]<ref name=foe>{{cite web
| url=http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/oil_for_ape_summary.pdf
| title=The Oil for Ape Scandal: How Palm Oil is Threatening the Orang-utan
| publisher=Friends of the Earth
| accessdate=2007-09-29
| author=Helen Buckland
}}</ref><ref>[http://www.grida.no/_documents/orangutan/full_orangutanreport.pdf The Last Stand of the Orangutan] UNEP/UNESCO</ref><ref name="IUCN Pongo pygmaeus">
{{Citation
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| last2 = Marshall | first2 = A.
| last3 = Goossens | first3 = B.
| last4 = van Schaik | first4 = C.
| last5 = Sugardjito | first5 = J.
| last6 = Gumal | first6 = M.
| last7 = Wich | first7 = S.
| year = 2007
| title = Pongo pygmaeus. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>
| url = http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/17975/all
| accessdate = 2008-04-02 }}
</ref><ref name="IUCN Pongo abelii">
{{Citation
| last1 = Singleton | first1 = I.
| last2 = Wich | first2 = S.A.
| last3 = Griffiths | first3 = M.
| year = 2007
| title = Pongo abelii. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>
| url = http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/39780/all
| accessdate = 2008-04-02 }}
</ref>, the [[Sumatran tiger]], and Asian [[rhinoceros]].<ref name=rhinos>{{cite web
| url=http://www.rhinos-irf.org/torgamba/
| title=Torgamba's Story
| publisher=International Rhino Foundation
| accessdate=2007-12-11
}}</ref>)
* Potential extinction of some such species<ref name=cspi/><ref name="IUCN Pongo pygmaeus" /><ref name="IUCN Pongo abelii" />
*Many places that are of interest for growing palm are [[biodiversity hotspot]]s <ref>[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/sundaland/Pages/default.aspx Conservation International: Biodiversity Hotspots]</ref>, increasing the impact of this development on the environment.<ref name=cspi>{{cite web | format = PDF | date = May 2005
| url=http://www.cspinet.org/palm/PalmOilReport.pdf
| publisher = [[Center for Science in the Public Interest]]
| title=Palm oil threathening endangered species
}}</ref> In addition to environmental impact, the logging, land-clearing and planting of oil palm continues to occur on native ([[Dayak]]) land, despite their frequent objections. This has caused the degradation of their food, water, forest product sources as well as destroying their cash crop farms such as fruit and rubber trees in [[Sarawak]], [[Sabah]] and [[Kalimantan]], Borneo.<ref>[http://www.forestpeoples.org/documents/asia_pacific/sarawak_land_is_life_nov07_eng.pdf Land is Life Land Rights and Oil Palm Development in Sarawak]</ref>
<ref>{{cite news
| publisher=[[International Herald Tribune]]
| date=April 16, 2007
| title=Malaysia says activists trying to harm palm oil industry by highlighting orangutan woes
}}</ref>
Damage to peatland, partly due to palm oil production, is claimed to contribute to environmental degradation, including four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions<ref>[http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/palm-oil_cooking-the-climate Cooking the Climate] Greenpeace UK Report, November 15, 2007</ref> and eight percent of all global emissions caused annually by burning fossil fuels<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/business/worldbusiness/31biofuel.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=e653a375e67e8e49&ex=1327899600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss Once a Dream, Palm Oil May Be an Eco-Nightmare] The New York Times, January 31, 2007</ref>, due to the large areas of rainforest that are cleared to make way for palm oil plantations. The pollution is exacerbated because many rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia lie atop [[peat bogs]] that store great quantities of carbon that are released when the forests are cut down and the bogs drained to make way for the palm oil plantations.
NGOs have accused the growth of new palm oil plantations as also being responsible for peat forest destruction in Indonesia and for accelerating [[global warming]]. Greenpeace concluded<ref>[http://www.greenpeace.org/cookingtheclimate Cooking the Climate - palm oil industry] Greenpeace November 2007</ref> that many food and cosmetics companies, including ADM, Unilever, Cargill, Proctor & Gamble, Nestle, Kraft and Burger King, are driving the demand for new palm oil supplies, partly for products that contain non-[[hydrogenation|hydrogenated]] solid vegetable fats, as consumers now demand fewer [[hydrogenated oil]]s in food products that were previously high in [[trans fat]] content.<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN0318207820070303 US soyoil, low in trans fat, faces palm threat], Reuters, 3 March 2007</ref>
Friends of the Earth have concluded that the increase in demand comes from [[biofuel]], with producers now looking to use palm as a source.<ref>[http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/burning_palm_oil_fuels_cli_23082006.html Burning palm oil fuels climate change] Friends of the Earth Aug 23 2006</ref>
Environmental groups such as [[Greenpeace]] claim that the [[deforestation]] caused by making way for oil palm plantations is far more damaging for the climate than the benefits gained by switching to biofuel.<ref name="pachter">{{cite news
| first = Pachter
| last = Andre
| title = Greenpeace Opposing Neste Palm-Based Biodiesel
| publisher = Epoch Times
| date = [[2007-10-12]]
| url = http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-10-12/60555.html
| accessdate = 2007-12-02}}</ref>.<ref>Land Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt.
Joseph Fargione, Jason Hill, David Tilman, Stephen Polasky, and Peter Hawthorne.
Published online 7 February 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1152747] (in Science Express Reports)
Environment, the National Science Foundation DEB0620652, Princeton Environmental Institute, and the Bush Foundation. We thank T. Searchinger for valuable comments and insights, and J. Herkert for providing references. Supporting Online Material www.sciencemag.org.Abstract Supporting Online Material.</ref> The world's centres for oil palm production are [[Indonesia]] and [[Malaysia]] where rapid deforestation and the drying out of associated peatlands are, Greenpeace claim, releasing huge amounts of [[carbon dioxide]] into the atmosphere and thereby speeding [[climate change]].<ref name="Greenpeace">{{cite web
| title = Palm oil: Cooking the Climate
| publisher = [[Greenpeace]]
| date = [[2007-11-08]]
| url = http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/palm-oil_cooking-the-climate
| accessdate = 2007-12-02}}</ref>.Greenpeace identified Indonesian peatlands, unique tropical forests whose dense soil can be burned to release carbon emissions, that are being destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations. They represent massive carbon sinks, and they claim their destruction already accounts for four percent of annual global emissions.
Greenpeace recorded peatland destruction in the Indonesian province of Riau on the island of Sumatra, home to 25 percent of Indonesia's palm oil plantations. There are plans to expand the area under concession by more than 28 500 km² (11,000 square miles), which would deforest half of the province. They claim this would have devastating consequences for Riau's peatlands, which have already been degraded by industrial development and store a massive 14.6 billion tonnes of carbon, roughly one year's greenhouse gas emissions.
Research conducted by Greenpeace through its Forest Defenders Camp in Riau documents how a major Indonesian palm oil producer is engaging in the large-scale, illegal destruction of peatland in flagrant violation of an Indonesian presidential order, as well as national forestry regulations. Palm oil from peatland is fed into the supply chain for global brands. They accuse major multinational companies of turning a blind eye to peatland destruction to supply cheap vegetable oil. FoE and Greenpeace both calculate that forests and peatlands that are replaced as palm oil plantations release more carbon dioxide than is saved by burning biofuels in place of diesel.{{Fact|date=December 2007}}
In Africa, the situation is very different compared to Indonesia or Malaysia. In its [[Human Development Report]] 2007-2008, the [[United Nations Development Program]] says production of palm oil in West-Africa is largely sustainable, mainly because it is undertaken on a smallholder level. The United Nations Food and Agriculture program is encouraging small farmers across Africa to grow palm oil, because the crop offers opportunities to improve livelihoods and incomes for the poor.<ref>[http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr_20072008_en_chapter3.pdf Human Development Report 2007 - 2008, Chapter III: Avoiding dangerous climate change: strategies for mitigation] United Nations Development Program</ref>.
Environmentalists and conservationists have been called upon to become palm oil farmers themselves, so they can use the profits to invest in their cause. It has been suggested that this a more productive strategy than the current confrontational approach that threatens the livelihoods of millions of smallholders.<ref>[http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0829-palm_oil.html NGOs should use palm oil to drive conservation] Rhett A. Butler, Mongabay, 29 August 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v448/n7157/full/448993a.html Cashing in palm oil for conservation] Nature (subscription required), 30 August 2007</ref>
Many of the major companies in the [[vegetable oil economy]] participate in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, which is trying to address this problem. In 2008 Unilever, a member of the group, committed to use only palm oil which is certified as sustainable, by ensuring that the large companies and smallholders that supply it convert to sustainable production by 2015.<ref name=foodnav>[http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?n=85047-unilever-greenpeace-palm-oil-carbon-emissions-sustainable Unilever commits to sustainable palm oil] Food Navigator.com 2 May 2008</ref>
Meanwhile, much of the recent investment in new palm plantations for biofuel has been part-funded through [[carbon credit]] projects through the [[Clean Development Mechanism]]; however the reputational risk associated with unsustainable palm plantations in Indonesia has now made many funds wary of investing there.<ref>[http://www.carbon-financeonline.com/index.cfm?section=features&id=10864&action=view&return=home Carbon market takes sides in palm oil battle] Carbon Finance, 20 November 2007</ref>
==Biofuels and bioproducts==
Palm oil, like other vegetable oils, can be used to create [[biodiesel]] for [[internal combustion engine]]s. Biodiesel has been promoted as a form of [[biomass]] that can be used as a renewable energy source to reduce net emissions of [[carbon dioxide]] into the atmosphere. Therefore, biodiesel is seen as a way to decrease the impact of the [[greenhouse effect]] and as a way of diversifying energy supplies to assist national [[energy security]] plans.
Scientists have found that biodiesel made from palm oil grown on sustainable non-forest land and from established plantations can effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions.<ref>[http://www.csiro.au/resources/pf13o.html The greenhouse and air quality emissions of biodiesel blends in Australia] [[Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation]]</ref>
However, NGOs such as Greenpeace have concluded that the current "first generation" biodiesel extracted from new palm oil plantations may not be a genuine counter to global warming.<ref>[http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/forests/faq-palm-oil-forests-and-climate-change FAQ: Palm oil, forests and climate change] [[Greenpeace]]</ref> If forests are cleared for palm plantations, and the wood is not used for bioenergy but burned, it may take decades before biodiesel from palm oil reduces as much carbon dioxide as the pristine forests originally sequestered in the form of carbon. However, if the wood is used for the production of bioenergy, the palm plantations as well as the biodiesel from palm oil starts to sequester and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the first year onwards.
Although palm oil has a [[Biodiesel#Yields of common crops|comparatively high yield]], the problems that organisations such as Greenpeace have linked to palm cultivation on newly-cleared plantations have encouraged research into alternative [[Vegetable oil used as fuel|vegetable fuel oil]] sources with less potential for environmental damage, such as [[jatropha]].<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2155351.ece Poison plant could help to cure the planet] Ben Macintyre, [[The Times]] 28 July 2007</ref> Although palm requires less manual labor to harvest a given amount of oil than jatropha, the latter grows well in more marginal areas and requires less water.
Other scientists and companies are going beyond merely using the oil from oil palm trees, and are proposing to convert the entire biomass harvested from a palm plantation into renewable electricity,<ref>[http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=245335] Malaysian National News Agency, 6 February 2007</ref> [[cellulosic ethanol]],<ref>[http://www.budibiofuels.com/biorefinery-solutions.pdf Celluosic ethanol from processing and plantation waste] Budi Oil Holdings Sdn. Bhd company promotional literature</ref> [[biogas]],<ref>[http://cdm.unfccc.int/Projects/DB/TUEV-SUED1151931954.52 Biogas Clean Development Mechanism: recovery and electricity generation from Palm Oil Mill Effluent ponds], [[UNFCCC]] CDM register</ref> [[biohydrogen]]<ref>[http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0360319905003745 Biohydrogen generation from palm oil mill effluent using anaerobic contact filter] Krishnan Vijayaraghavan & Desa Ahmada, UPM, 14 February 2006</ref> and [[bioplastic]].<ref>[http://www.bt.tudelft.nl/live/pagina.jsp?id=a6bc2465-2b57-49a1-bc5e-0ce52e99c6a4&lang=en&binary=/doc/EBTprFadhil.pdf Biodegradable Plastics Production from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)] Delft University of Technology</ref> Thus, by using both the biomass from the plantation as well as the processing residues from palm oil production (fibers, kernel shells, palm oil mill effluent), bioenergy from palm plantations can have an effect on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Examples of these production techniques have been registered as projects under the [[Kyoto Protocol]]'s [[Clean Development Mechanism]].
By using all the biomass residues from palm oil processing for renewable energy, fuels and [[biodegradable]] products, both the [[energy balance]] and the greenhouse gas emissions balance for biodiesel from palm oil is improved.
For each tonne of crude palm oil (CPO) produced from fresh fruit bunches, the following residues, which can all be used for the manufacture of biofuels, bioenergy and bioproducts, become available: around 6 tonnes of waste palm fronds, 1 tonne of palm trunks, 5 tonnes of empty fruit bunches (EFB), 1 tonne of press fiber (from the mesocarp of the fruit), half a tonne of palm kernel endocarp, 250 kg of palm kernel press cake, and 100 tonnes of palm oil mill effluent (POME). In short, a palm plantation has the potential to yield a very large amount of biomass that can be used for the production of renewable products.<ref>[http://unit.aist.go.jp/internat/biomassws/01workshop/material/AliHassan.pdf Biomass Utilization in Malaysia] National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST, Japan)</ref>
However, regardless of these new innovations, first generation biodiesel production from palm oil is still in demand globally and will continue to increase. Palm oil is also a primary substitute for rapeseed oil in Europe, which too is experiencing high levels of demand for biodiesel purposes. Palm oil producers are investing heavily in the refineries needed for biodiesel. In Malaysia companies have been merging, buying others out and forming alliances in order to obtain the economies of scale needed to handle the high costs caused by increased feedstock prices. New refineries are being built across Asia and Europe<ref name=grain>[http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=486 The palm-oil–biodiesel nexus] Grain 2007</ref>
== Regional production ==
[[Image:2006palm_oil.PNG|thumb|right|Palm oil output in 2006]]
===Malaysia===
In 2004, Malaysia produced 14 million tons of palm oil from more than 38,000 square kilometres of land, making it the largest exporter of palm oil in the world. The majority of its crops goes towards its traditional markets for personal hygiene and food use. The Malaysian [[Sime Darby]] conglomerate is its largest plantation operator, with 524,626 hectares of oil palms, mainly across Peninsular Malaysia, [[Sarawak]] and [[Sabah]] in Malaysia.<ref>[http://www.simedarby.com/our_businesses/plantation.aspx Plantation business] Sime Derby corporate website]</ref> It also operates plantations in [[Sumatera]], [[Kalimantan]] and [[Sulawesi]] in Indonesia, as well as production plants and [[refineries]].
The [[IEA]] predicts that biofuels use in Asian countries will remain modest. But as a major producer of palm oil, the Malaysian government is encouraging the production of [[biofuel]] feedstock and the building of [[biodiesel]] plants that use palm oil. Domestically, Malaysia is preparing to change from diesel to bio-fuels by 2008, including drafting legislation that will make the switch mandatory. From 2007, all diesel sold in Malaysia must contain 5% palm oil.
Malaysia is emerging as one of the leading biofuel producers with 91 plants approved and a handful now in operation, all based on palm oil.<ref name=forbes/> Most are aimed at supplying regional demand, though exports to Europe are also planned, with China currently the main importer of Malaysian products for biodiesel.<ref>World Energy Outlook 2006, OECD/IEA, page 404</ref>
On [[16 December]] [[2007]], Malaysia opened its first biodiesel plant in the state of Pahang, which has an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes and also produces by-products in the form of 4,000 tonnes of palm fatty acid distillate and 12,000 tonnes of pharmaceutical grade glycerine.<ref name=nst>{{cite news | publisher = [[New Straits Times]] | url = http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/National/2110947/Article/index_html | title =
New plant a catalyst for country's biodiesel industry | date =2007-12-16 }}</ref>
[[Neste Oil]] of Finland plans to produce 800,000 tonnes of biodiesel per year from Malaysian palm oil in a new [[Singapore]] refinery from 2010, which will make it the largest biofuel plant in the world,<ref>[http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45658/story.htm Neste To Build US$814 Mln Singapore Biofuel Plant] Reuters 3 December 2007</ref> and 170,000 tpa from its first second-generation plant in Finland from 2007-8, which can refine fuel from a variety of sources. Neste and the Finnish government are using this [[paraffin]]ic fuel in some public buses in the Helsinki area as a small scale pilot.<ref>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKHEL00602420071130 Neste Oil eyes further biodiesel investments] Reuters 30.11.2007</ref><ref>[http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/talous/vasen/id76325.html Neste Oil rakentaa Singaporeen maailman suurimman biodieseltehtaan] Yleisradio Finnish Television News 30.11.2007 (in Finnish)</ref>
=== Indonesia ===
Growers in Indonesia are also increasing production of palm oil to meet the global demand spurred by biofuels, with the government looking for it to become the world's top producer of palm oil.
In additional to servicing its traditional markets, it is looking to produce biodiesel. There are new [[Mill (grinding)|mills]] and refineries being built by major local companies, such as [[PT. Asianagro]] (150,000 tpa biodiesel refinery), [[PT. Bakrie]] Group (a biodiesel factory and new plantations), Surya Dumai Group (biodiesel refinery) and global companies such as [[Cargill]] (sometimes operating through CTP Holdings of Singapore, building new refineries and mills in Malaysia and Indonesia, expanding its [[Rotterdam]] refinery to handle 300,000 tpa of palm oil, acquiring plantations in [[Sumatra]], [[Kalimantan]], [[Indonesia]]n Peninsula and [[Papua New Guinea]]) and [[Robert Kuok]]'s Wilmar International Limited (with plantations and 25 refineries across Indonesia, to supply feedstock to new biodiesel refineries in Singapore, Riau, Indonesia, and Rotterdam).<ref name=grain/>
However, fresh land clearances, especially in [[Borneo]], are contentious for their environmental impact.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7084306.stm Palm oil warning for Indonesia] BBC 8 November 2007</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6927890.stm BBC Losing land to palm oil in Kalimantan] BBC News, 3 August 2007</ref>
[[Non-governmental organization|NGO]]s and many international bodies are now warning that, despite thousands of square kilometres of land standing unplanted in Indonesia, tropical hardwood forest are being cleared for palm oil plantations. Furthermore, as the remaining unprotected lowland forest dwindles, developers are looking to plant [[peat]] swamp land, using drainage that unlocks the carbon held in their trees and begins an [[oxidation]] process of the peat which can release 5,000 to 10,000 years worth of stored carbon. Drained peat is also at very high risk of forest fire, and there is a clear record of fire being used to clear vegetation for palm oil development in [[Indonesia]].
Drought and man-made clearances have led to [[List of wildfires#Indonesia|massive uncontrolled forest fires]] over recent years, covering parts of [[2006 Southeast Asian haze|Southeast Asia in haze]] and leading to an international [[2005 Malaysian haze|crisis with Malaysia]]. These fires have been variously blamed on a government with little ability to enforce its own laws while impoverished small farmers and large plantation owners illegally burn and clear forests and peat lands in order to reap the developmental benefits of environmentally-valuable land<ref>[http://www.terradaily.com/reports/No_Easy_Solution_To_Indonesian_Haze_Problem_999.html No Easy Solution To Indonesian Haze Problem] AFP 20 April 2007</ref><ref>[http://voanews.com/english/archive/2006-09/2006-09-11-voa15.cfm?CFID=228535988&CFTOKEN=81987215 Forest Fires Sweep Indonesian Borneo and Sumatra] VOA news</ref>
===Colombia===
In the 1960s about 18,000 hecatares were planted with palm. Colombia has now become the largest palm oil producer in the Americas, and 35% of its product is exported as biofuel. In 2006 the Colombian plantation owners' association, Fedepalma, reported that oil palm cultivation was expanding to a million hectares. This expansion is being part-funded by the [[United States Agency for International Development]] in order to resettle disarmed [[paramilitary]] members on cultivatable land, and by the Colombian government which proposes to expand land use for exportable cash crops to 7m hectares by 2020, including oil palms. However, while Fedepalma states that its members are following sustainable guidelines,<ref>[http://www.rspo.org/PDF/Members/Reporting/Fedepalma.pdf Fedepalma Annual Communication of Progress] Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, 2006</ref>
there have been claims that some of these new plantations have been appropriated on land owned by [[Afro-Colombian]]s driven away through poverty and civil war, while armed guards intimidate the remaining people to depopulate the land, while [[coca]] production and trafficking follows in their wake<ref name=dollar>{{cite web | title = Blood on the Palms: Afro-Colombians fight new plantations | last = Bacon | first = David | url = http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2007/0707bacon.html }}</ref>
===Other producers===
;Australia
On 23 November 2006 Australia's first palm oil based [[biodiesel]] plant opened in Darwin, using [[Lurgi AG]]'s biofuel refinery technology. The plant has a capacity to produce 122,500 t of biodiesel, and 12,250 t of [[glycerine]] annually. The same company is also building a 600,000/60,000 tpa biodiesel/glycerine facility with [[cogeneration]] in Singapore, scheduled to come into full production in mid-2008<ref>[http://www.naturalfuel.com.au Australian Natural Fuel] refiner's website</ref>
;Benin
Palm is native to the wetlands of Western Africa and south Benin already hosts many palm plantations. Its government's 'Agricultural Revival Programme' has identified many thousands of hectares of land as suitable for new oil palm plantations to be grown as an export crop. In spite of the economic benefits, NGOs such as Nature Tropicale claim this policy is flawed as biofuels will be competing with domestic food production in some existing prime agricultural sites. Other areas comprise [[peat|peat land]], whose drainage would have a deleterious environmental impact. They are also concerned that [[genetic modification|genetically-modified]] plants will be introduced for the first time into the region, jeopardizing the current premium paid for their non-GM crops.<ref name=wrm>{{ cite web | url = http://wrmbulletin.wordpress.com/2007/08/03/benin-large-scale-oil-palm-plantations-for-agrofuel | title = Benin: Large scale oil palm plantations for agrofuel | date = 2007-08-03 | first = Flavio | last = Pazos | publisher = World Rainforest Movement}}</ref>
;Kenya
Kenya's domestic production of edible oils covers about a third of its annual demand, estimated at around 380,000 metric tonnes. The rest is imported at a cost of around US$140 million a year, making edible oil the country's second most important import after petroleum. Since 1993 a new [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] variety of cold-tolerant, high-yielding oil palm has been promoted by the [[Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations]] in western Kenya. As well as alleviating the country's deficit of edible oils while providing an important cash crop, it is claimed to have environmental benefits in the region, as it does not compete against food crops or native vegetation and it provides stabilisation for the soil.<ref name=fao>{{cite web | title = Hybrid oil palms bear fruit in western Kenya | date = 2003-11-24 | publisher = UN FAO | url = http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/field/2003/1103_oilpalm.htm }}</ref>
==Health==
Palm oil is a very common cooking ingredient in the regions where it is produced.
Its heavy use in the commercial food industry elsewhere can be explained by its comparatively low price, being one of the cheaper vegetable or cooking oils on the market, and by new markets in the USA, stimulated by a search for alternatives to trans fats after the [[Food and Drug Administration]] required food labels to list the amount of trans fat per serving.<ref name=cspi/> Identifying the exact source of an oil can be complicated by labelling, as palm oil is often described on food labels simply as "vegetable oil".{{Fact|date=March 2008}}
Red palm oil is known to be healthier than refined (discolored) palm oil. This is a result of several mitigating substances found in the red palm oil. These compounds are:
*[[carotene|betacarotenes]] (present in higher amounts than in regular palm oil)<ref>[http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/114188086/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 Analytical characteristics of crude and refined palm oil and fractions] DOI:10.1002/ejlt.200600264</ref>
*[[Coenzyme Q|co-enzyme Q10]] ([[ubiquinone]])
*[[squalene]]
*[[Vitamin A]]<ref name=ivacg>{{cite web | format = PDF | url = http://ivacg.ilsi.org/file/IVACGPeruFINALREPORT.pdf | title = (T15) Effect of Red Palm Oil on Respiratory Tract Infection among Adolescent Schoolgirls | publisher = International Vitamin A Consultative Group | edition = Conference proceedings 15-17 November 2004}}</ref><ref> {{cite book | publisher= Food Nutrition Bulletin | date = June 2003 | edition = 24(2) | page = 208-17 |title = Red palm oil supplementation: a feasible diet-based approach to improve the vitamin A status of pregnant women and their infants | author = Radhika MS, Bhaskaram P, Balakrishna N, Ramalakshmi BA. | url = http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=PubMed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=12891825}}</ref>
*[[Vitamin E]]
Palm oil is applied to wounds, just like [[iodine]] tincture, to aid the healing process. This is not just done for its oily qualities; like [[coconut oil]], unrefined palm oil is supposed to have additional antimicrobial effects, but research does not clearly confirm this<ref>[http://www.kmitl.ac.th/ejkmitl/vol5no2/p502-505.pdf Ekwenye, U.N and Ijeomah, C.A: Antimicrobial effects of palm kernel oil and palm oil, in: KMITL Sci. J., Vol. 5 No. 2, Jan-Jun 2005</ref>.
===Blood cholesterol controversy=== <!-- [[Palmitic acid]] links to this section -->
The palm oil industry emphasizes that palm oil contains large quantities of [[oleic acid]], the healthful fatty acid also found in olive and canola oil, and claims that palmitic acid also affects cholesterol levels much like [[oleic acid]].
Many health authorities counter that palm oil promotes [[heart disease]], citing research and [[metastudy|metastudies]] that go back to 1970.<ref name = cspi/>
For many years now, it has been established that the primary cholesterol-elevating fatty acids are the [[saturated fatty acids]] with 12 ([[lauric acid]]), 14 ([[myristic acid]]) and 16 ([[palmitic acid]]) carbon atoms with a concomitant increase in the risk of coronary heart disease. Monounsaturated fatty acids such as [[oleic acid]] is as effective in reducing serum total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels as polyunsaturated fatty acids such as [[alpha-linoleic acid]].<ref>Vessby, B. 1994. INFORM 5(2): pages 182-185.</ref>
The [[World Health Organization]] in its report<ref>[http://www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/who_fao_expert_report.pdf Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases] WHO Technical Report Series 916. Geneva. 2003. pages 82, 88 </ref> states there is convincing evidence that palmitic oil consumption contributes to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Research in the US and Europe support the WHO report.<ref name=nutrition>{{cite web | last = Kabagambe, Baylin, Ascherio & Campos | url = http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/135/11/2674 | publisher = Journal of Nutrition | title = The Type of Oil Used for Cooking Is Associated with the Risk of Nonfatal Acute Myocardial Infarction in Costa Rica | edition =
135 | page = 2674-2679 |date=November 2005}}</ref>
In a response to the WHO report, the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council has argued that there is insufficient scientific evidence to produce general guidelines for worldwide consumption of palm oil and cited research a study in China comparing palm, soybean, peanut oils and lard (all of which contain saturated fat) showing that palm oil increased the levels of good cholesterol and reduced the levels of bad cholesterol in the blood, and that palm is a better solid fat to use in products where trans fats would otherwise be chosen.<ref>[http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/media/en/gsfao_cmo_068.pdf Comments On Draft Document: Diet, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases] Koh, C.S. Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council, 2006.
</ref>
An older study by Hornstra in 1990 also supported the claims of the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council.<ref>Hornstra, 1990 `Effects of dietary lipids on some aspects of the cardiovascular risk profile'. In G. Ziant [ed.], LIPIDS AND HEALTH.</ref>
A study by the Departments of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science and Medicine, University of Alberta showed palmitic acid to have no hypercholesterolaemic effect if intake of linoleic acid was greater than 4.5% of energy, but that if the diet contained trans fatty acids, LDL cholesterol increases and HDL cholesterol decreases.<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=12492626 Cholesterolaemic effect of palmitic acid in relation to other dietary fatty acids] French, Sundram & Clandinin, Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2002;11 Suppl 7:S401-7</ref>
The studies supporting the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council only addressed the issue of the effect of palm oil on blood cholesterol levels and not its total effect regarding cardiovascular diseases.{{Fact|date=December 2007}}
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/apr/04/energy.indonesia
==External links==
*[http://www.greenpeace.org/cookingtheclimate Cooking the Climate] - Greenpeace report on the palm oil industry
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/tribe/tribes/penan/index.shtml Bruce Parry's Penan documentary showing the social and environmental impact of palm plantations in Malaysia]
*[http://www.palmoilhq.com/ Palm Oil HQ] - Palm Oil News, Prices and Industry Directory
*[http://www.indexmundi.com/en/commodities/agricultural/oil-palm/ Palm Oil - Production, Consumption, Exports, and Imports Statistics by Country]
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[[Category:Cooking oils]]
[[Category:Vegetable oils]]
[[Category:Biofuels]]
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