New study shows biofuels in EU increasingly dependent on palm oil

I spent a year from 2013-14 living in the jungles of Indonesian Borneo and spending many days searching for and following orangutans and gibbons. So, last year’s forest fires in Indonesia, which came to within a kilometre of our base camp, made me especially sad and concerned for my friends, colleagues and the wildlife they work to protect.

Many of the forest fires in Indonesia are started illegally, using the annual natural forest fires as cover to clear areas to grow palm oil, a resource that, among other uses, is a biofuel that’s increasingly turned to as a renewable fuel option by EU countries. Although, last year's forest fires were made particularly intense by a worse than average El Nino event (increasingly intense El Ninos are a predicted consequence of climate change).

Last year these fires generated more emissions per day than the US economy was producing each day. This is in large part because they were razing tropical forests on carbon rich peatlands.

My personal attachment to this part of the world is also why I took extra interest this week when new analysis by NGO Transport and Environment has shown that there has been a huge increase in the proportion of the EU’s palm oil that is used as a biofuel in transport.

In 2014 45% of all palm oil went to biodiesel used in vehicles (purportedly as a renewable fuel), compared to just 8% in 2010. This means that a substantial growth in imports of palm oil has in large part been driven by increasing use of biodiesel. Almost one third of all biodiesel used in the EU now comes from palm oil. The UK is among the Member States that use biofuels, although according to the most recent data available from Government it does not currently use any palm oil in its fuel mix. The clearing of land to produce palm oil can be hugely destructive for the special habitats and wildlife that I lived in and alongside for a year in Indonesia. And the fires and the conversion of forest can be terrible for the climate.

Furthermore, new evidence (also from Transport and Environment) shows just how bad for the climate vegetable oils for cars (like palm oil) can be: up to 80% worse for the climate than the fossil fuels they replace.

So, under the auspices of reducing emissions through renewable energy policy, EU biofuels are actually driving a large increase in the use of palm oil. In turn, they could be making climate change worse than if we had continued to use conventional petrol or diesel, and are causing untold harm to wildlife.

The RSPB welcomes the cap that the EU has put on so-called ‘first generation’ biofuels such as palm oil. This cap means that at most 7% of a Member State’s renewable transport target can be met from these kinds of fuels. But this cap was set too high for our liking.

However, from 2020 onwards, in order to protect both nature and the climate, subsidies for these kinds of biofuels needs to be phased out completely. Instead, demand reduction, shifts to more efficient forms of transport, electrification of vehicles and the use of genuine wastes should be prioritised.