One of the most interesting side-effects of the climate change threat has been the commercial surge in biofuels. Among the most popular is palm oil, which until now has been used mainly for cooking and cosmetics. There have always been doubts about just how green this type of fuel is, but now researchers have come up with what looks like the most conclusive evidence that palm oil is not good for the environment.
A study in this month's Trends in Ecology & Evolution shows that, where palm oil plantations have displaced tropical rainforests, they lead to a big dip in biodiversity.
According to the lead author of the paper, Emily Fitzherbert, from the Zoological Society of London:
"We wanted to put the discussion on a firm scientific footing...Palm oil is grown across 50,000 square miles, mainly in Malaysia and Indonesia, and according to the researchers this could climb even higher if palm oil takes off as a biofuel. The problem is that, like any big agribusiness, there's a major lobby trying to play down its negative environmental effects.
By compiling scientific studies of birds, bats, ants and other species, we were able to show that on average, fewer than one-sixth of the species recorded in primary forest were found in oil palm. Degraded forest, and even alternative crops such as rubber and cocoa, supported higher numbers of species than oil palm plantations.”
There are so many pitfalls on the road to tackling climate change and it's starting to look as though palm oil could be one of them.
Photo of a worker sorting through palm oil fruit from the website of the astonishingly brilliant photographer, Justin Mott.
3 responses:
http://twistedglobe.blogspot.com/
Surely, if your objective is to reduce greenhouse gases, the only way biofuels should be seen as a problem is if they displace other flora/fauna that act as a sink for more carbon dioxide than they do? What has biodiversity ever done for CO2? Could be that the loss of biodoversity may be a price worth paying?
There are those who think that the threat of climate change warrants unlimited action. But, for me, especially since there are perfectly good biofuel alternatives out there, growing palm oil to the detriment of rainforest biodiversity seems a step too far.
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