Bad news for orangutans and other denizens of the remaining rainforests in Malaysia and Borneo: palm oil consumption in the European Union rose 7 per cent in 2017 compared with 2016. It’s the rising global demand for palm oil that is driving the clearance of rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia to make way for more plantations.
EU consumption grew, even though the use of palm oil in foods and cosmetics has fallen slightly. Instead, the increase was almost entirely due to the rising use of biodiesel made from palm oil.
Overall, 51 per cent of the palm oil consumed in the EU is now burned in cars and trucks, according to the latest figures from the vegetable oils data company . Another 10 per cent is used for heating and generating electricity. Foods and cosmetics now account for just 39 per cent.
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Diesel from oil palms
This is happening because EU laws effectively stipulate that normal diesel must be blended with biodiesels made from vegetable oils, and palm oil is the cheapest vegetable oil. Yet the EU’s own studies show that using palm oil as a biofuel increases rather than decreases climate emissions.
“Burning palm oil in cars and trucks to meet Europe’s green energy targets must be the single stupidest thing we do in climate policy,” says of Transport & Environment, which campaigns for cleaner transport in Europe.
In January, the European Parliament voted . But the final decision will be made later this month by the European Commission, which favours using palm oil as a biofuel.
