05/09/2009 (Green Fudge.org) - Is palm oil ‘biofuel’ a complete waste and are big oil companies just incapable of getting it right? It’s like they just can’t resist doing the wrong thing. As is the case with tobacco companies and arms dealers, a conscience must be a liability in the energy industry if there is a lot of money to be made, especially if the money is quick. So paint this poison Green, sell it to the world and call it biofuel.

Maybe I’m being too cynical. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not in principle against all biofuels, bio energy, bioplastics, etc. I’m not even necessarily against all things containing palm oil or even all ethanol or biodiesel sourced from palm plantations. But it seems the palm oil biofuel debacle is turning out to be a partly intentional scam where big oil companies act like they’re doing something Green when they’re actually doing more environmental harm (and socioeconomic – see the food vs. fuel controversy) than they do by producing traditional fossil fuels.

The biofuel agenda is full of loopholes, starting with an initiative requiring fuel companies to sell biofuel as 3.5% of their total fuel, because it’s more environmentally friendly when it burns. So they use the cheapest form of biofuel ­– sourced from palm trees – which creates untold amounts of greenhouse gasses during its harvesting process, not to mention destroys precious rainforest and the habitat of cute orange baby orangutans. Bastards.

Oil companies are also effectively allowed – via another regulation loophole – to declare that they don’t know the type of land their biofuel is sourced from, nor do they have to state if their biofuel is made from palm oil, though I’m sure they would say so if it wasn’t. Of all the big oil companies in this London Times story by Ben Webster from August 15th, 2009, only Shell confirmed that they used no biodiesel from palm oil in 2008, citing environmental responsibility.

The Times article states that ‘Deforestation, mainly in the tropics, accounts for almost 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.’ That is a huge number, and honestly sounds a bit hard to substantiate. The problem with climate change statistics is they’re all over the place, including another statement from the same article that Indonesia is the 3rd largest emitter of greenhouse gasses. Several sources including wikipedia and the U.S. Government’s Environmental Protection Agency don’t even mention Indonesia among top CO2 producing nations. A Reuters article dated June 4th, 2007 supports the Times’ claim however, sourcing a World Bank-funded study. According to the Reuters article, Indonesia has also “already lost an estimated 72 percent of its original frontier forest.”

If that isn’t enough to put the fear of God into you, check out this quote from the same Times piece:

Indonesia has the fastest rate of deforestation, losing an area the size of Wales every year. The expansion of plantations has pushed the orang-utan to the brink of extinction in Sumatra.

So what’s causing this reckless deforestation, orangutan slaughter and planting of palms? Well, palm oil is used for all kinds of things, including food, pharmaceuticals, household products and shaving cream. But those things have been around for years. The international biofuel revolution is just beginning. Again, from the Times:

Last year British motorists used 27 million litres of palm oil from Indonesia and 64 million litres from Malaysia, according to the Renewable Fuels Agency

Palm oil is the cheapest source for biofuel and therefore the least expensive (and most attractive) for large fuel companies. Unfortunately, many of the palm plantations are unregulated and illegal, but most oil companies don’t want to hear that.

Ironically, palm oil is also used to make napalm, another product used as a method of deforestation and a very direct way of killing plants, animals and people. Remember the famous photo from the Vietnam War of a naked girl running with her back on fire? Her village had been bombed with napalm, a horrific burning jelly made in part from palm oil.

But I’m not saying to throw out all biofuels with the bathwater. More promising and proven biofuels like sugar cane ethanol, waste vegetable oil, and hopefully some day algae fuel all provide smarter options with brighter, Greener futures than the rainforest-destroying, cholesterol-causing, carbon producing palm oil fiasco. I admit the napalm connection was a low blow, but oil companies are used to fighting dirty. And so finally: think of the cute orange orangutans and don’t support the palm oil biofuel scam.