Archived News

04/10/2007 (Ferret.com) - When trans fatty acids first became an issue, palm oil fractions and interesterified oils appeared an obvious and easily implemented alternative to the trans-rich partially hydrogenated fats so widely used in the production of fat-based fine bakery and confectionery products. But then came the performance problems.

04/10/2007 (MSNBC), TUMBANG KULING, Indonesia - Naingolan shunts the excavator into high gear and tears into a patch of smoldering forest on Borneo island, clearing the way for yet another palm oil plantation that Indonesia hopes will tap into a surge in global demand for biofuels.

04/10/2007 (Checkbiotech) - The growing popularity of palm oil has been condemned by some conservationists from the West who see rainforest being given over to palms in Malaysia and Indonesia, with an appreciable loss in biodiversity. The push to plant more trees is easy to explain: palm oil is by far the most productive oil and energy crop and brings nearly instant profits to millions of small farmers and estates alike. Palm oil is one of the few sectors that bring social and economic development to poor communities in a straightforward way.

01/10/2007 (The Seattle Times) - A map of Seattle and its environs teems with pins — potential sites for the company's green-and-white biodiesel pumps. Most of the pins mark well-established gasoline stations that sell traditional petroleum-based fuels. By striking deals to sell biodiesel there, Propel executives think they can overcome the retail-distribution obstacles that so far have kept it an alternative fuel for a small circle of green devotees.

03/10/2007 (Business Times) - SARAWAK’S Ta Ann Holdings Bhd is setting aside almost RM200 million to plant more oil palm and timber trees and expand its timber-processing mills.

02/10/2007 (The Edge Daily), KUALA LUMPUR - TDM Bhd has entered into a joint-venture (JV) and shareholders agreement with Indonesian Bapak H Rahman to develop oil palm plantations and operate oil palm businesses in Indonesia.

01/10/2007 (AFX News Limited), JAKARTA - Indonesia's trade surplus in August narrowed to 2.76 billion US dollars from 3.55 billion dollars in July as imports picked up pace while exports slowed from the preceding month, Central Bureau of Statistics chairman Rusman Heriawan said Monday.

01/10/2007 (Reuters), London - Protecting the environment is at the heart of Indonesia's future plans for palm oil production and companies caught destroying protected forests are being prosecuted, the country's agriculture minister said on Monday.

01/10/2007 (Reuters), Kuala Lumpur - A campaign by environment groups against palm oil is costing the product market share in Europe, a top Malaysian palm oil industry official said on Monday.

01/10/2007 (Reuters) - Exports of Malaysian palm oil products during September rose 11.9 per cent to 1,415,266 tonnes from 1,264,422 tonnes shipped in August, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said today.

01/10/2007 (The Huntsville Item) - The questions concerning our fuels of the future are many, but a group of agriculture students at Sam Houston State University are helping provide some of the answers.

30/09/2007 (India Post) - ASEAN energy ministers have held several discussions on issues of petroleum security, energy from renewable sources and on concerns regarding nuclear energy. A regular feature of the ASEAN, the meeting of energy ministers in the last week of August 2007 was notable for the vision it outlined for the future.