EU Needs to Rethink, Set Goals to Reduce Palm Oil in Biodiesel

Business News/Analysis, European Union (EU), Feedstocks, Field/Orchard/Plantation Crops/Residues, History of Advanced Biofuels, Indonesia, Malaysia, Opinions, Policy, Sustainability

April 6, 2018

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by Sudheer Mopperthy (Asian Age) The EU adopted this new fuel with rigour and pledged that by 2020, 10 per cent of all transport fuels in EU nations would be biodiesel. … The EU’s palm oil ban will effectively push three million small hold farmers into poverty and generate a disastrous ripple effect across the poorer rural demographics in Malaysia and Indonesia.

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Fast forward 10 years to today, where 45 per cent of all palm oil imported to the EU is used to make biodiesel.

This means that with the ban on palm oil in biodiesel, there will be an over supply of palm oil in the market and prices will crash. The palm oil exporting economies of Malaysia and Indonesia will take hard hits. These governments will have to spend significant amounts of money ensuring their farmers can make ends meet.

This is money that could have instead been spent on restoring the natural resources and rainforests that were eaten away. Malaysia is a country that can afford to restore its rainforests if it is given a helping hand by the EU, rather than a kick in the gut. READ MORE

Palm oil prices expected to surpass RM2,600 per tonne by mid-2018 (MSN News)

EU locked in a trilogue on new biofuels directive (New Straits Times)

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