60,000 tons of biodiesel leave Malaysia by boat
The first boatload full of 60,000 tons of biofuel made from palm oil left Malaysia for, expectedly, Germany yesterday. While the government is understandably proud of this feat, but as Treehugger notes, making biodiesel in SE Asia often means lots of deforestation. In Malaysia's case, 87 percent of the deforestation in the country was because of new palm oil plantations. Malaysian Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin said Malaysia must increase the pace at which oil palm was replanted to realize the Government's vision of achieving 35 tons of oil palm fresh fruit brunches per hectare yearly and 25% palm oil extraction rate by 2020, according to the Malaysian Star.[Source: Malaysian Star via Treehugger]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Howard Lee Harkness 7:51AM (8/17/2006)
I believe strongly in the potential of biodiesel, but this import of fuel by Germany is just plain wrong. Or maybe, "not even wrong" -- bordering on insane.
Deforestation and importing any sort of fuel from Asia are both symptoms of a bigger problem. In the short run, Germany is taking advantage of the huge differential in labor rates and feedstock prices between domestic and Asian, but in the long run, this "green" fuel is anything but. Germany is endangering our air supply and our climate with this short-sighted approach to biodiesel.
In order to achieve the promise of biodiesel, Germany needs to make her own. Part of the problem is that biodiesel production in the EU is only legally permitted from relatively poor-yield feedstocks that have ridiculous domestic price supports.
Here's an excerpt from European Union Biofuels Policy and Agriculture: An Overview
"The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). EU crop production patterns have traditionally been heavily influenced by the CAP with its high support prices,
planting restrictions, intervention buying, stock management, and rigid border controls. International trade agreements have also been influential on cropping decisions. Reforms enacted since 2003 have removed many of the previous distortions in EU commodity markets. However, EU policies and programs remain important in providing support for the agricultural sector. Presently, the CAP includes rules on agricultural land use, as well as a special payment for the production of crops dedicated to biofuels."
Here is prima facie evidence that the EU doesn't "get it". One of the primary reasons for the use of biofuel is to lessen the impact of energy use on the climate, and deforestation is exactly the wrong way to go about that. This stupidity is even worse than burning dinosaur juice.
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TDIMeister 4:03PM (8/17/2006)
As regards to Germany importing palm oil Biodiesel and the comment about its actions "endangering" the air supply and the implied irresponsibility to import a product made from cleared rainforest land, the one thing that comes to my mind, noting the source of the comment, is "the pot calling the kettle black." The statement "This stupidity is even worse than burning dinosaur juice" doesn't need any comment as its ridiculousness stands on its own.
I currently live in Germany, but I am of Canadian citizenship born in Malaysia and have also lived and worked in the US in an automotive powertrain consulting capacity.
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Arthur 4:27PM (8/17/2006)
I wonder how much regular diesel is burned just getting all that bio-diesel to Germany
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TDIMeister 5:07AM (8/18/2006)
#3: NONE. Tankers run on bunker oil, not Diesel fuel ;-) Seriously though, the amount it would probably be almost exactly the same as shipping crude oil from the Middle East to North America on account of traveling distances.
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zeka 11:50PM (3/12/2007)
why is it when there is an initiative to produce say biodiesel in the tropics, immediately the reaction is that the forest is destroyed. If you really live in the topics with monkeys running around you and birds are ib the air, I have not seen the damage. I dont see much forest in the west either. the biodiesel that can be produce comes from nature. if you leave your garden unattended for a few months it will be a secondary forest. By five years it will become a primary forest. Have you really live in the forest those of you who have migrated to the west. Stop making comments that make you a laughing stock assuming that the world is destroyed by using gods' gift. The palm tree is the most efficient photosynthetic machine that uses sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to sequestrate carbon into long chain fatty acid to be converted to biodiesel. Agronomist.
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