11/09/2009 (Electric.co.uk) - The operators of Britain’s first biofuel power plants are now considering using palm oil. However, many are upset with this choice since palm oil was blamed for causing rain forest destruction in south east Asia.

Right now the plan is for at least four new power stations to be located throughout the UK to burn vegetable oils with the assurance that they will generate a lot less pollution than burning fossil fuels. Two of these power plants, which will power more than 50,000 homes, are considering using palm oil. These power plants are located at Newport in South Wales and Portland in Dorset.

W4B Energy, which has already submitted a planning application to build a big £30 million Portland plant, says that it is only going to use sustainable supplies certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Plam Oil. Vogen Energy, which is behind the plant at Newport, has already said that the production of its palm oil will not harm the environment in any way.

However, environmentalists are already questioning this, saying that using any kind of palm oil would be unwise. This is due to the pressure it would place on supplies, even if these supplies are officially sustainable. Other groups are even starting to question whether the systems of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil are certifying sustainable supplies that are actually robust.

As of right now, 38 million tonnes of the palm oil that is produced globally is used in food and in cosmetics. The need for biofuels to the mix could put too much pressure on demand, which is suspected to going up about 6 to 10 percent.