News

June 07, 2009

The Week In Alternative Fuels: Indonesia Hits Out At Palm Oil Slurs

By Sally White

Western countries are using climate change as an excuse to constrain palm oil production in Asia because it competes with Western interests, including conventional fuels, Indonesia's palm oil industry chief claimed last week. The head of the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers, Joefly J. Bahroeny, said his industry had been accused of killing orangutans, burning forests and selling a product high in cholesterol. Environmental NGOs, he alleged, could be part of a campaign driven by Western business interests in competing commodities such as rapeseed, soybeans and fossil fuels. "It's all about business," he told a forum of palm oil producers. "Palm oil has become a competitor as biofuel, not only with rapeseed products but also a real competitor to fossil fuels controlled by Western interests. Do these other people truly care about global warming? Or do they also want to get rich with the excuse of climate change?"

The Indonesian government earlier this year lifted a moratorium on palm oil expansion into peat lands and the industry may now develop peat bogs less than three meters deep. Bahroeny said he expected big palm oil expansion by members of the association in East Kalimantan in the near future and that his industry helped to alleviate poverty in rural areas. Indonesia has already sowed enough high yield seedlings to double its output to 40 million metric tonnes by 2020. He also said he was...