Unilever, makers of Dove, has recently released a video aimed at promoting children’s self-esteem by illuminating how the beauty industry targets girl’s body images. The goal of the Dove Self Esteem Fund is to change “the current, narrow definition of beauty.”  As much as I agree with this goal, there is a downside. Unilever imports palm oil from Indonesia, where rainforests and tropical peatlands are destroyed.  According to It’s the Only One We Have:

• Indonesia is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, in large part due to the destruction of its forests at the hands of the palm oil industry.

• Unilever is buying palm oil from suppliers who destroy Indonesia’s rainforests. Unilever is the biggest user of palm oil in the world and chair of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), so it has huge clout in how palm oil is made.

Here is Greenpeace’s video response:

Certainly beauty, self-esteem, and environmental preservation can go hand in hand!

According to the Ann Arbor News, these two 12-year-olds gave up on selling Girl Scout cookies after learning that the cookies are made with palm oil, which comes from Indonesian plantations that threaten the orangutan’s natural habitat. What started out as a research project on orangutans aimed at earning their Bronze Award has since turned into a two-girl campaign against palm oil production.

Rather than selling Girl Scout cookies this year, Madison and Rhiannon chose to sell magazines to raise funds for their troop. They’ve done more than that, though: they’re also giving presentations at area schools and set up a Website designed to educate other kids about endangered orangutans and the palm oil industry. They even had famed primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall sign their petition against palm oil when they met with her at a recent Jane Goodall Institute Regional Roots and Shoots conference in Chicago.

The two girls even dare to argue with the Girl Scouts’ defense of its cookies. The organization says its bakery sticks with palm oil from land that hasn’t been deliberately deforested for plantations, and that it’s looking for ways to use as little palm oil as possible. But Madison and Rhiannon have stuck to their guns, choosing not only to avoid Girl Scout cookies but any other goodies made with palm oil.

I’ll give the Girl Scouts organization credit, though: it’s invited the two girls to talk with Scout leaders about palm oil before next year’s cookie sales. Who knows? Next year, maybe many more young girls will be following in Madison’s and Rhiannon’s footsteps.

As promised in their earlier news releases, Virgin Atlantic said they would use a sustainable fuel made from feedstock not normally used for food products. Both coconut oil and babassu oil are used in cosmetic products, lip balm and other such applications. The raw materials were harvested from existing, mature plantations in Brazil.

Sir Richard Branson, president of Virgin Atlantic is quoted as saying,

“Today marks a biofuel breakthrough for the whole airline industry, Virgin Atlantic nd its partners have proved that you can find an alternative to
traditional jet fuel and fly a plane on biofuel. This pioneering flight
will enable those of us who are serious about reducing our carbon emissions
to go on developing the fuels of the future, fuels which will power our
aircraft in the years ahead.”

There was wide speculation that an algae-based biofuel would be used in the test, but that, of course, proved false even though Virgin Atlantic hinted strongly at the possibility.

According to Radio Netherlands the Boeing 747 landed at Amsterdam’s Schipol airport after a successful flight.

Engineers will now study results of tests taken during the trip to determine if sustainable biofuels will fit into commercial aviation and lessen CO2 emissions.

Not everyone agrees, however, that biofuels will “fly”, as noted here by  Pem Charnley, contributor to Green Options’ EcoWorldly blog.  His feelings are outlined here, Pies in the Sky.

Source

It was first reported in January that Virgin Atlantic would test flight a Boeing 747 jetliner using a biofuel, without naming the fuel. An algae-derived biofuel was, however, mentioned as a strong possibility for the flight between London Heathrow airport and Amsterdam. The plane will carry a limited flight crew and no passengers.

Next, an official of the UK Department of Transport claimed in a document leaked to Flight International that a 20% mixture of algae biofuel and regular jet fuel will be used in one engine for the test.

The latest comes from a Boeing official who said, in an interveiw with Flight at the Singapore air show, the Virgin Flight will definitely not use algae-derived biofuel in the test. Instead, a first-generation feedstock, such as soy, canola, babassu or palm oil will be the source of the biofuel.

The use of a hydrogenated fuel would, as one expert put it, “be a good demonstration of proof of concept.” He did say, however, that algae will be considered as a fuel source in the future.

Well, whatever they use, it’ll be a first for the commercial aviation industry. An Airbus 380 flew with a gas-to-liquid biofuel a few weeks ago, proving that a biofuel was an option, but in their case it was a fuel derived from fossil deposits.

The test is slated for the end of February, so we’ll know soon what fuel was used in the flight.

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Together, the Southeast Asian countries of Indonesia and Malaysia control about 85% of the world’s crude palm oil market. In Indonesia, the biodiesel industry employs 1.5 million people and Malaysia has already approved 91 new biodiesel plants. Currently, about 30% of Malaysia’s total oil production is biodiesel from palm oil.

The pros of palm oil for use in biodiesel have drawn interest from the international business community. Finnish biodiesel mogul, Neste Oil, is working on opening the world’s largest biodiesel plant in Singapore using a palm oil feedstock. The plant is set to go online in 2009 with a production capacity of 800,000 metric tons per year of biodiesel–16,000 barrels, in oil terms. Neste is followed by many other companies, including Australian Mission Biofuels, which opened a new Malaysian plant in December and will produce 100,000 tons a year.

However, all’s not well in the Asian palm oil bodiesel market. Reuters reports that of the seven currently operating Malaysian biodiesel plants, many are running below capacity and plans for 14 new plants have been put on hold. In addition, rising palm oil prices, frequent flooding, and a number of environmental concerns have taken their toll on the industry.

Some environmental organizations link palm oil biofuels to deforestation. Greenpeace, for one, staunchly opposes palm oil as a source of biofuel based on this concern. The Center for Science in the Public Interest also stands firmly against palm oil, warning that it “harms health [when eaten], the rainforest and wildlife.”

It’s a funny situation: usually environmental and social groups lobby for alternatives to fossil fuels while oil companies and major international financial institutions continue with their business as usual production of those fuels. Here, the environmental groups are lobbying against the alternatives to fossil fuels that oil producers and the World Bank are pushing for.

To the protests from environmental groups, pro-palm oil organizations have several convincing responses. Firstly, they point out that oil palms are some of the most productive biofuel sources in the world. One hectare of oil palm plantation is enough to produce 5 metric tons of crude biodiesel a year. This means less land is required to produce biofuel this way. The Palm Oil Truth Foundation also argues that “in Malaysia, the expansion of oil palm plantations over the last decade came mostly from the conversion of other economic crops such as rubber, cocoa and coconut” and not from deforestation. The total amount of greenhouse gases reduced by palm oil biodiesel, claim proponents, is 40-60% over regular diesel.

Despite the setbacks, lagging production, and the current environmental debate, there may be hope yet for Asian biodiesels. Biodiesel from Southeast Asia is almost all exported and sold on the international biodiesel market. This means that biodiesel legislation outside of Seatheast Asia will encourage growth in production. Several countries have made moves toward such legislation. South Korea passed legislation that mandates a 3% biodiesel blend, though the energy ministry rejected the originally proposed 5%. In 2008, Finland will adopt similar legislation, mandating 2%. In the US as well, Congress is in the first steps of considering legislation that promotes biodiesel and enacts past biodiesel goals.

A Refined Solution?

Rather than remain at odds with environmental groups, Neste Oil has gone to work with the World Wildlife Fund to create a certification program for palm oil biodiesel produced sustainably. The program is called the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil, or RSPO. For now, the success of the RSPO is as uncertain as is the future of palm biodiesel itself. Still, if palm biodiesel is to be pursued, the RSPO offers exciting promise for a clean and sustainable way to free the world of fossil fuels.

Resources:

Gas 2.0 | Green Options Media

Biodiesel: The Good and the Bad | Green Car Advisor

Biodiesel Draws Bipartisan Presidential Candidates Focus | Biodiesel.org (PDF)

S. 1616: Biodiesel Promotion and Quality Assurance Act of 2007 | Govtrack.us

Biodiesel around the world | Wikimedia

Pro-Palm Biodiesel References

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

Palm Oil Truth Foundation

Faced with soaring oil prices, Indonesia turns to biodiesel | The Christian Science Monitor

Indonesia: Palm Oil Production A Mainstay of North Sumatra Economy | Embassy of the United States

Southeast Asia’s Green Energy Industry Fuels Employment| The World Bank Group

No peace for Neste Oil | Biofuels International

South Korea’s energy ministry rejects five percent biodiesel blend, opts for three instead | Autoblog Green

Neste Oil to build a NExBTL Renewable Diesel plant in Singapore | Neste Oil

100,000 tps Biodiesel Refinery, Kuantan Port in Malaysia | Mission Biofuels

Anti-Palm Biodiesel References

Greenpeace: Neste palm oil-based biodiesel not so green | Helsingin Sanomat

Cruel Oil | The Center for Science in the Public Interest

Why is oil palm replacing tropical rainforests? | Mongabay

Asian biodiesel plants sit idle as costs soar | Reuters

Mass production of Malaysian biodiesel slow on soaring palm oil prices - report | Caro Diesel

Photo Source:

Palm Oil Fruit | Neste Oil