palm oil

Palm oil and water quality

June 3, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Palm oil is the world’s cheapest and most widely used vegetable oil. In fact, more than 86 million tons of palm oil was consumed last year alone. Even though few of us cook with it, palm oil can be found in approximately half of all packaged grocery items – everything from ice creams and pizzas to detergents and cosmetics.

This massive global demand for palm oil is driving tropical deforestation around the world. While many studies have shown how converting rainforests to oil palm plantations causes biodiversity loss, researchers from UMass Amherst are the first to demonstrate how these plantations also cause wide-ranging disturbances to nearby watersheds.

In the study, which was recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, the research team focused on the Kais River watershed of West Papua, a province in the far east of Indonesia. Approximately 25% of the watershed has been turned into oil palm plantations. The watershed is also one of the oldest continually inhabited homes for different groups of Indigenous Papuans.

The researchers found that the conversion of tropical rainforest to oil palm plantation has increased precipitation, runoff, and soil moisture. Water quality in the watershed has also gotten dramatically worse: sedimentation has increased by 16.9%, nitrogen by 78.1%, and phosphorus by 144%.

The research team hopes regulators will work to limit the use of pesticides, conduct continuous water quality monitoring, and ensure that downstream communities have access to water quality information.

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Oil Palm Plantations Are Driving Massive Downstream Impact to Watershed

Photo, posted December 13, 2008, courtesy of Fitri Agung via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Food and the climate crisis

December 18, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Agriculture is a major part of the climate problem and remains one of the hardest human activities to decarbonize. It’s responsible for approximately 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Many experts contend that alternative food sources – like insect farming and seaweed aquaculture – are part of the solution. Additionally, expanding production of climate resilient food crops, including quinoa, kernza, amaranth, and millet, likely also have a role to play.

But according to a new study led by researchers from the University of California – Irvine, another solution to this problem may be to eliminate farms altogether. In the study, which was recently published in the journal Nature Sustainability, the research team explored the potential for wide scale synthetic production of dietary fats through chemical and biological processes. The materials needed for this method are the same as those used naturally by plants: hydrogen (in water) and carbon dioxide (in the air).

The research team highlighted some of the potential benefits of farm-free food, including reduced water use, less pollution, localized food production, and less risk to food production from weather.

Cookies, crackers, chips, and many other grocery products are made with palm oil, a dietary fat that continues to be a major driver of deforestation around the world. However, it remains to be seen how consumers would react if the oil used to bake their cookies came from a food refinery up the road instead of a palm plantation in Indonesia.

According to the researchers, depending on food refineries instead of tropical plantations for dietary fats could mitigate lots of climate-warming emissions while also protecting land and biodiversity.

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UC Irvine-led science team shows how to eat our way out of the climate crisis

Photo, posted July 15, 2008, courtesy of Quinn Dombrowski via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Spooky Reality | Earth Wise

October 23, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to the National Retail Federation, American consumers will spend a whopping $12.2 billion on Halloween this year, exceeding last year’s record of $10.6 billion. A record number of people – 73% of Americans – will also participate in Halloween-related activities this year, up from 69% in 2022. But it’s not just our wallets that take a beating.

Halloween generates a frightening amount of waste. Picture all those flimsy and often single-use costumes, polyester cobwebs, plastic-wrapped candy, mass-produced decorations, and so forth. Scary stuff! Here are some simple tricks to make the holiday more sustainable this year.

Invest in quality costumes. Those mass-produced costumes leave the largest carbon footprint from Halloween. They are often made from non-recyclable plastic and most end up in landfills by mid-November. By renting, thrifting, swapping, or making your own costumes, many of the negative impacts of dressing up for the holiday can be avoided.

Find environmentally-friendly decorations and supplies. For example, carve local pumpkins and either save the seeds and flesh to eat later, compost it, or feed it to animals. Make your own spooky decorations. If you do buy decorations, ensure that they are durable and reusable. And use wicker baskets, old bags, or pillowcases when trick-or-treating.

Finally, purchase organic and fair trade candy if you’re able to do so. Some of the largest candy manufacturers are major drivers of deforestation and species extinction around the globe due to their demand for sugar, palm oil, and cocoa beans.

Together, we can “green” Halloween.

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Halloween Data Center

Photo, posted November 13, 2019, courtesy of Christian Collins via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Cutting Deforestation | Earth Wise

August 10, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Deforestation is a major contributor to climate change because the destruction of tropical rainforests worldwide eliminates a crucial natural sink for carbon. Between 2015 and 2020, roughly 39,000 square miles of forest were cut down, an area about 70% the size of the entire state of New York. In many places, such as the Amazon and Congo Basins, deforestation continues to accelerate. In Bolivia, deforestation rose 59% over the past five years; in Ghana, the rise was 71%.

A new report from the World Resources Institute revealed one bright spot in the deforestation story: both Indonesia and Malaysia have cut deforestation by more than half in recent years. The two countries have managed to keep rates of primary forest loss to near record-low levels.

Over the past five years, Indonesia saw a 64% decline and Malaysia a 57% decline in deforestation. Indonesia is the second largest source of deforestation with only Brazil removing more trees.

Indonesia has a national goal of having its forests absorb more carbon than they release by 2030. They have moved to curb logging and limit the clearing of land for palm oil plantations. They have also ramped up efforts to suppress forest fires.

It is good that Indonesia and Malaysia and some other countries have shown progress in reducing forest loss. However, too many other countries have seen continued activities and policies that are causing acceleration of deforestation in critical areas. Protecting forests is an important part of the effort to mitigate the effects of climate change. Preserving forests also is essential for protecting the people and the biodiversity that depend on them.

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Indonesia, Malaysia Have Cut Deforestation in Half in Last Half-Decade

Photo, posted March 22, 2021, courtesy EPJT Tours via of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Chocolate And Deforestation | Earth Wise

February 14, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The world consumes 7.5 million tons of chocolate a year. Americans spend an average of $145 a year per capita on chocolate. And we are not even the world leaders. The Swiss eat an average of 22 pounds per person and the overall European chocolate market is the world’s largest.

A market valued over $100 billion a year is bound to have its issues for the environment, human rights, and other social issues, and chocolate is no exception. The global cacao industry grapples with problems with child labor, poverty, deforestation, sustainability and other environmental issues. The response of companies across the industry varies greatly. A website called chocolatescorecard.com keeps track of how many in the industry are doing.

Recently, lawmakers in the European Union have been putting together a landmark legislative package that addresses deforestation risks in the supply chains of a number of commodities including cattle, timber, rubber, soy, palm oil, and cacao. The proposed law restricts companies that import cacao and sell chocolate to import only what doesn’t destroy or degrade forests.

Voluntary promises by big chocolate makers to save forests in major cacao-producing countries (like Ivory Coast, Ghana, Indonesia, and Nigeria) are difficult to keep. Farmers sell to brokers who sell to trading companies that then sell to chocolate makers. Tracing the origins of chocolate is difficult. Ultimately, fairly compensating farmers is the only way they are likely comply with deforestation regulations and there are unfortunately many pockets to fill before that is likely to happen.

It is up to consumers to encourage companies to do the right thing by making their buying choices appropriately.

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The Forest in Your Chocolate

The Chocolate Scorecard

Photo, posted January 12, 2010, courtesy of Lee McCoy via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Greening Halloween | Earth Wise

October 26, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween participation is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year. Spending on Halloween festivities by the 69% of Americans who celebrate is expected to add up to $10.6 billion in 2022 – or more than $100 per person – reaching a new record high.

Halloween generates a mind-boggling amount of waste. Picture all the flimsy single-use costumes, plastic candy wrappers, mass-produced decorations, and so on. Here are some tricks to treat you to a greener holiday.

Our first trick is to invest in quality costumes. Mass-produced (and often single use) costumes leave the largest carbon footprint from Halloween. They are often made from unsustainable materials, manufactured in countries with poor labor standards, and too many end up in landfills by mid-November. By renting, thrifting, swapping, or making your own costumes, many of the negative impacts of dressing up for the holiday can be avoided.

Our second trick is to invest in environmentally-friendly decorations and supplies. For example, carve local pumpkins and save the seeds and flesh to eat later. Make your own spooky decorations. If you do buy decorations, ensure that they are durable and reusable. And use a wicker basket, old bag, or pillowcase to trick-or-treat.

Our third trick is to pass out organic and fair trade candy. Some of the largest candy manufacturers are major drivers of deforestation and species extinction around the globe due to their demand for sugar, palm oil, and cocoa beans.

If you’ve already spent your $100 this year, consider these changes for next year. It’s never too late to become a superhero.

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Retail Holiday and Seasonal Trends: Halloween

Photo, posted October 14, 2007, courtesy of Brian via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Miracle Tree | Earth Wise

September 27, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The world needs to be fed without destroying the environment. We need to grow more trees to store more carbon on earth and reduce the amount in the atmosphere. But meanwhile, we decimate rainforests to produce palm oil and grow soybeans.

A startup company in California called Terviva thinks they have a solution. It’s called pongamia, which is an ordinary looking tropical tree. It produces beans packed with protein and oil, much like soybeans. However, it has the potential to produce much more nutrition per acre than soybeans and it is hardy enough to grow on pretty much any kind of land without the use of pesticides, fertilizers, or irrigation. In short, it is a miracle crop for a hot and hungry planet that is running out of fertile farmland and fresh water.

Pongamia is not a new or rare tree. It is common in India but grows all over the world. It is often planted as an ornamental here in the U.S.

The initial idea for making use of the hardy tree was to use its oil as a biofuel. The seeds of pongamia are known to have a bitter taste and disagreeable odor, which is why the seeds or oil were never used for human or animal feed. However, Terviva has developed a way to de-bitter pongamia oil. Once this is done, it becomes a golden-colored substitute for olive oil. It also has enormous potential as a protein for plant-based milks and meats, since it contains all nine essential amino acids.

Terviva has raised more than $100 million to further develop pongamia and is now partnering with Danone, a $25 billion multinational food company, to develop pongamia as a climate-friendly, climate-resilient, non-GMO alternative to soy and palm oil.

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This super-tree could help feed the world and fight climate change

Photo, posted December 15, 2015, courtesy of Lauren Gutierrez via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Synthetic Palm Oil | Earth Wise

February 18, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Palm oil is the world’s cheapest and most widely used vegetable oil. Producing it is a primary driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss in the tropics. In Borneo, for example, oil palm cultivation has accounted for more than half of all deforestation over the past two decades. More than one million square miles of biodiversity hotspots could be threatened by oil palm cultivation, which could potentially affect more than 40% of all threatened bird, mammal, and amphibian species.

Today, the world consumes over 70 million tons of palm oil each year, used in products ranging from toothpaste and oat milk to biodiesel and laundry detergent.

Given this situation, there are now multiple companies developing microbial oils that might offer an alternative to palm oil while avoiding its most destructive impacts.

A company called C16 Biosciences is working on the problem in Manhattan, backed by $20 million from a Bill Gates’ climate solutions investment fund. A California-based startup called Kiverdi is working to manufacture yeast oil using carbon captured from the atmosphere.

Xylome, a Wisconsin-based startup is working to produce a palm oil alternative that they call “Yoil”, produced by a proprietary strain of yeast. The oil from the yeast strain is remarkably similar to palm oil.

The challenge is to be able to produce microbial oils at large scale and at a competitive price. Unless valuable co-products could be manufactured along with the oil, it may be difficult to compete with palm oil. Without regulatory pressures and willingness of consumers to pay more, it may be difficult to replace palm oil in many of its applications.

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Can Synthetic Palm Oil Help Save the World’s Tropical Forests?

Photo, posted December 9, 2008, courtesy of Fitri Agung via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Increasing Palm Oil Production Without Harming The Environment | Earth Wise

May 5, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Palm oil is the most important source of vegetable oil in the world. The oil itself and ingredients based on it are found in approximately 50% of the products on supermarket shelves, including both food and non-food items. Many of the mysterious chemicals that show up on ingredient lists such as sodium lauryl sulfate are actually derived from palm oil.

Dozens of countries produce palm oil, but about 2/3 of the world’s supply comes from Indonesia and the demand for its oil keeps growing. To keep up with that demand, Indonesia continues to convert valuable ecosystems that contribute greatly to biodiversity to palm production.

A four-year research project at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln has found that keeping up with palm oil demand may not necessarily mean converting valuable, fragile ecosystems into agricultural land. According to the study published in Nature Sustainability, palm oil yields on existing farms and plantations could be greatly increased with improved management practices.

The researchers identified key practices that could lead to larger yield. These include improved harvest methods, better weed control, improved pruning, and better plant nutrition. With such practices, Indonesia could produce 68% more palm oil on existing plantation areas.

The results were surprising to the researchers and are significant from both environmental and economic standpoints. In particular, it could have a great impact on the millions of individual farmers who draw their livelihood from small palm farms often containing just a few acres. In Indonesia, about 42% of land used for palm oil production is owned by smallholder farms.

The researchers are now working with various stakeholders in Indonesia to put these management techniques into practice.

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Husker research shows palm oil production can grow while protecting ecosystems

Photo, posted August 15, 2006, courtesy of Lian Pin Koh via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Palm Oil Replacement | Earth Wise

December 15, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In the 1990s, cardiovascular health issues associated with partially hydrogenated oils containing harmful trans fats became a focus of great concern. As a result, food companies looked for substitutes and the alternative they identified was palm oil. Its ability to remain solid at room temperature made it well suited for many food applications. Unfortunately, that property stems from its high saturated fat content, which means it also increases the risk of coronary heart disease.

The widespread use of palm oil has also caused significant environmental problems. Palm oil plantations have replaced millions of acres of tropical forests, destroying the habitat for numerous species and threatening biodiversity.

Other potential replacements for partially hydrogenated oils such as coconut oil tend to be more costly, limited in supply, and also high in saturated fats.

Food scientists at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, recently demonstrated the use of enzymatic glycerolysis (EG) to turn liquid vegetable oils into solid fats. Their process is able to produce solid fats with the textural and structural properties desired by consumers.

The process is fairly simple, relatively easy to scale up, and is amenable to smaller food production or even local production. Using it would enable food producers to use all sorts of readily available vegetable oils that can be produced in parts of the world that are not necessarily tropical regions.

Palm oil use is not going to go away, but this work may point a way to help slow down the destruction of ecosystems and animal habitats as well lead to more sustainable and healthy food sources.

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U of G Food Scientists Find Palm Oil Alternative That’s Good for Human, Planet Health

Photo, posted February 21, 2010, courtesy of Craig Morey via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Tough Times For Fireflies | Earth Wise

March 11, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Fireflies or lightning bugs are soft-bellied beetles known widely for their use of bioluminescence – the biochemical emission of light – to communicate and to attract mates. There are more than 2,000 species of these beetles globally. They can be found in temperate and tropical climates, like marshes or wet, wooded areas, all throughout the world.

But if you are seeing fewer fireflies each summer, you’re not alone. Like many insects, firefly populations are under duress from threats like pesticides, pollution, and habitat loss. But fireflies are also facing another threat unique to luminous bugs: light pollution. Light pollution is making it harder for fireflies to reproduce because the artificial light is outshining their mating signals.

Male fireflies light up to signal availability and female fireflies respond with patterned flashes to indicate they’re interested. But artificial bright light from things like billboards, streetlights, buildings, and homes, is interfering with the fireflies reproduction communications.

The study, by researchers at Tufts University and the IUCN, warned that these threats facing fireflies could lead them globally to extinction.

The researchers also point to habitat loss as another major threat to fireflies. Firefly populations are especially vulnerable because they need special conditions to complete their life cycle. Mangrove forests and marshes around the world are being removed in favor of cash crops like palm oil.

Insects like fireflies are crucial components of many ecosystems where they perform important functions, like aerating soil, pollinating plants, and controlling pests. Firefly larvae feed on snails, slugs and mites, and many fireflies are effective pollinators.

We can’t afford for fireflies to go dark.

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Web Links

A Global Perspective on Firefly Extinction Threats

Fireflies Have a Mating Problem: The Lights Are Always On

Photo, posted June 5, 2010, courtesy of Matt MacGillivray via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Indonesian Deforestation

February 28, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Deforestation is defined as the intentional destruction of trees and other vegetation without reforesting or allowing the forest to regenerate itself.

In Indonesia, industrial agriculture, primarily for the production of palm oil, is a major driver of deforestation. But, according to researchers at Duke University, its impact has diminished proportionately in recent years as other natural and human causes have emerged. Their peer-reviewed findings were recently published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

According to the study’s lead author, large-scale plantations were responsible for more than half of Indonesia’s deforestation in the late 2000s, peaking between 2008-2010 when an average of 1.5 million acres of forest was lost annually. The expansion of the massive plantations was responsible for 57% of the forest loss. Between 2014-2016, an average of more than 2 million acres of forest was lost annually, but plantation expansion only accounted for 25% of this figure. While the overall rate of deforestation continued to grow, other factors were responsible for most of it.

Conversions of forests to grasslands rose sharply in 2015 and 2016 when El Nino caused severe droughts and forest fires. Small-scale farming, often overshadowed by industrial agriculture, was also found to play a bigger role, accounting for 25% of all forest loss.

Indonesia has experienced some of the highest rates of deforestation. Its forests absorb and store vast amounts of climate-warming carbon dioxide, help prevent erosion and flooding, and provide habitat to thousands of species. Understanding the varied causes of Indonesian deforestation should help conservationists and policymakers better address the problem.

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