HELP STOP THE SACRIFICE OF FORESTS FOR BIOFUELS
Palm Oil Plantations, Central Kalimantan, Borneo. Indonesia's
rainforests are currently being cleared at a rate of 300 football fields per hour (UN Report 2007) |
Biofuels are any fuels made from plant matter that can be used as alternatives to petroleum-based fuels. They can be made from many different plants, including soya, wheat, barley and palm oil. The burning of biofuels generally creates significantly less greenhouse emissions than burning petroleum-based fuels, and so they have been embraced by some environmentalists and many governments as one response to climate change.
The problem with biofuels is that the crops needed as their raw materials require land and water, and this has led to a huge increase in the destruction of forests worldwide. In Borneo and Sumatra, pristine and irreplaceable old growth forest is being destroyed at an unprecedented rate to plant palm oil trees, causing devastation to local communities and plant and animal species, and, ironically, leading to a huge increase in greenhouse emissions. If deforestation continues at the current rate, 98% of all forests in Indonesia and Malaysia will be gone by 2022.
Donate now to support our campaign to stop the production of biofuels from pristine forests.
We need your help to support our campaign activities:
- Engaging with biofuel companies that currently use palm oil to seek alternative sources
- A public awareness campaign to inform consumers about their biofuel sources
- Actions to support mandatory biofuel source labelling at the bowser
Time is running out. Please support our campaign and help us save one of the most diverse and unique regions on the planet.
EARTH-RESCUE'S SUBMISSION TO THE VICTORIAN PARLIAMENT'S COMMITEE'S INQUIRY INTO MANDATORY ETHANOL AND BIOFUEL TARGETS IN VICTORIA
On August 2, 2007 Earth-Rescue made the following submission to the Victorian Parliament's Inquiry into Mandatory Ethanol and Biofuels Targets in Victoria. The Parliamenary commitee's terms of reference was to:
- report on the merits or otherwise of a mandated target for alternative fuels including biofuels and ethanol;
- report on whether a mandatory target should be 5% by 2010, 10% by 2015 or otherwise;
- report on the measures required by Government to facilitate an alternative fuels industry in Victoria for transport and non-transport applications; and
- report on how to maximise the regional economic development benefits of a mandatory biofuels target including jobs growth and investment potential.
Our Submission
We wish to submit arguments for the banning of the use of palm oil as a feed stock for biodiesel in Victoria.
The use of palm oil as feedstock to produce biofuel in Australia is already occurring. Palm oil feedstock is imported from Malaysia and/or Indonesia, with PNG now also increasing its palm oil output. The palm oil industry has caused massive social and environmental devastation in Southeast Asia, due to the scale of land clearance (in Indonesia alone, approximately 5 million hectares of primary forest every year) and the pollution caused by pesticides, fertilisers, and chemicals in the milling process. The effects on plant and animal species have also been devastating, and widespread.
Merits of a mandated target
Where the reason for applying a target for biofuel usage is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the amount of greenhouse gases produced in the manufacture and supply of the fuel is a critical factor, not just the greenhouse gases emitted in using the fuel.
It is estimated that the use of Southeast Asian palm oil as a feedstock for biodiesel will actually increase greenhouse gas emissions by at least 2 to 8 times more than those saved by using it as a fuel, compared to petroleum-based diesel. (Source: Jim Rowland, Biofuelwatch, Feb 2007)
Draining peatlands (which conservatively comprise at least 27% of SEAsian oil palm plantations) causes massive greenhouse emissions due to rapid peat decomposition (approx. 70 to 100 tonnes of CO2 per hectare per year).
The drained peatlands are also susceptible to long burning fires that emit huge quantities of carbon dioxide.
Over 90% of peatland fire emissions originate from Indonesia, which puts the country in 3rd place (after the USA and China) in the global CO2 emission ranking. It is concluded that deforested and drained peatlands in SE Asia are a globally significant source of CO2 emissions and a major obstacle to meeting the aim of stabilising greenhouse gas emissions. (Peat-CO2 Assessment of CO2 emissions from drained peatlands in SE Asia, Delft Hydraulics, Wetlands International & Alterra 2006)
Indonesian peatlands have one of the highest attested carbon deposition rates, and the loss of these carbon “sinks” greatly increases greenhouse gases left in the atmosphere.
Drying peatlands also release substantial quantities of methane, a gas with 23 times the global warming impact of CO2. The production of one tonne of palm oil results in approximately 33 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. By comparison the amount of fossil fuel required to generate the same amount of energy results in 3 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. (Source: Wetlands International)
It is important to note that this estimate of an increase of 2 to 8 times in greenhouse emissions due to the use of palm oil as a biodiesel does not include:
- The one-off discharges that occur when forests are cleared.
- The fact that mature, established palm oil plantations absorb far less CO2 than primary forest.
- Emissions caused by transportation of feedstock from SEAsia compared to a locally produced feedstock will be higher.
It is clear that the use of palm oil is totally inconsistent with the goal of reducing greenhouse emissions. While burning palm oil-based biodiesel in Victoria creates less greenhouse emissions in Victoria than burning diesel, global emissions will dramatically rise as a result.
Some biodiesel manufacturers claim that the palm oil they are using is from sustainable sources. These claims are clearly misleading. There is currently no independent certification system anywhere in the world to verify sustainability claims. The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a group composed of stakeholders in the palm oil industry, claims to be working towards the production of sustainable palm oil. However, membership of the group is voluntary, actions towards meeting sustainability are not mandatory, have no time frames, and are currently not assessed in any way. Many environmental groups have raised concerns about the RSPO and its claims, because many biofuel manufacturers are using their membership of the RSPO to mask their inaction on sustainability.
Many Malaysian palm oil companies claim that the palm oil they are producing is sustainable. Whilst it is true that much of the Malaysian palm oil industry is now situated on ex-rubber plantations or other non-primary forest land, most of the companies involved are actively engaged in the Indonesian industry, which is primarily in cleared rainforest. So purchasing from these companies is no guarantee whatsoever that the palm oil is not from cleared rainforest, as they can easily switch supply between the two regions. Regardless of this, due to the fertilisers and pesticides needed to maintain viable yields, the chemicals used in the milling process, and the widespread social dislocation caused by the industry, it is actually doubtful whether palm oil could ever be produced sustainably and still be commercially viable. No company has achieved this to date.
It is our strong belief, therefore, that palm oil should be excluded as a feedstock in Victoria, regardless of whether companies are members of the RSPO or not, and regardless of whether companies claim it has originated from sustainable sources.
Furthermore, it is clear that the main goal of the Federal Government’s Global Initiative on Forests and Climate is to reduce global greenhouse emissions. Deforestation currently accounts for a massive 20% of global emissions, with 3000 football fields of forests being cleared every hour globally, and 300 football fields per hour being cleared for palm oil plantations in Indonesia alone. Any endorsement of palm oil as an acceptable feedstock for the biodiesel industry in Victoria is clearly inconsistent with this Federal Government initiative.
Furthermore, logging old growth forests is clearly at odds with the wishes of the majority of the Victorian electorate.
Economic Regional Development
It is well understood that regional economic development will be
strengthened by encouraging the use of canola and tallow based feedstocks for use in biodiesel in Victoria. In the absence of diverse economic development in some regions, these industries provide valuable income and employment in some parts of regional Victoria.
The use of imported palm oil will undermine this economic development.
Many biodiesel manufacturers currently establishing themselves in the Australian market are purchasing plant and machinery that enables them to switch from a variety of feedstocks. Their decision on which feedstock to use is mostly determined by price. The price of crude palm oil, while it has been relatively high over the past six months, is dropping considerably, and its long term outlook is for it to further reduce, due to vast increases in supply. Once it is commercially preferable for manufacturers to use palm oil as opposed to other feedstocks, they will do so.
The availability of palm oil as a feedstock for biodiesel will directly impact Victorian canola and tallow producers, as it will lower the price they receive for their product, depending on the world price of crude palm oil. As biodiesel production rises (as it is expected to do as crude oil prices trend upwards), the use of palm oil could, in the long term, have a devastating affect on the canola and tallow industry. The resultant economic uncertainty will also make it difficult for the industry to make sound investment decisions.
The importing of palm oil also has a negative impact on Australia’s balance of payments position, indirectly affecting Victorian companies through exchange rate changes and interest rates. Furthermore, the economic benefits of spending in the local economy benefits Victoria many times over, compared to spending overseas.
Submission presented by:
Oles Krolikowski,
for Earth Rescue Incorporated
August 2nd, 2007
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