Biodiesel destroys rain forests

17/05/2006 | Bron: Umwelt Magazin

The ecological charity Save the Rainforests (RdR) is demanding that the federal government prohibit the use of tropical food plants such as palm oil or soya for energy production. The cultivation of tropical plants for producing biofuels is destroying huge areas of precious rainforest. Instead of simply replacing oil with biofuels, we need a fundamental change in policy on energy and transport,” says Reinhard Behrend, the president of RdR. “To do this, we need radical energy-saving measures, as well as directed development of renewable energy.”

The supposedly neutral balance of energy production from palm oil, for example, is a pipedream which does not take into account the way that the raw materials are produced. “The virgin forests and swamps of Sumatra and Borneo play a considerable role in reducing CO². Yet it is precisely these rainforests that are cleared by burning in order to produce palm oil,” explains Behrend. “So it's not just important ecosystems are disappearing, but also the advantage gained by using biofuels since their production destroys this contribution to CO². reduction.

In principle, the use of plant fuels is governed by strict environmental criteria. Currently Germany's first palm oil refinery is being planned at Emden, and from 2007 it is expected to process about 430,000 tonnes of palm oil from Indonesia into biodiesel. “This is not renewable energy, it's deforestation diesel,” comments Behrend. “Anyone who approves the financing of this on a national scale is responsible for the destruction of rainforests.” Biofuel from rainforests inflicts deep wounds on this fragile ecosystem, where smallholders and inhabitants of the forest are systematically “sold” to the palm oil industry. “Children and day labourers work in the plantations for a pathetic wage, and that's the only reason we have such cheap palm oil.”

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