Intelligent Living
Deforestation
EnvironmentSustainability

Biodiesel Is Destroying The Rainforests More Than We Think

BioDiesel is killing the rainforests! More than half of the palm oil imported into Europe goes into diesel fuel, according to Transport and the Environment. A massive 87 percent of the growth in the use of palm oil in 2017 was due to its increasing use as palm oil biodiesel. Drivers of diesel vehicles are the top users of palm oil in Europe. All the rest of the products combined don’t compare.

Palm oil use in Europe's cars: comparisons

And why is this happening? Because the EU wants to save our climate with supposedly green biofuels and has deemed palm oil “sustainable”… Yet on the other side of the globe, rainforests are being clear-cut to produce the 1.9 million tons of palm oil that end up in European fuel tanks every year. While grocery stores are banning products because they contain palm oil, the customers going to the store to buy their palm free product options are getting there using their cars that run on palm oil diesel gas!

Palm oil uses in Europe

The preliminary knowledge to the European Union requiring vegetable oils to be added to diesel was because it was considered to be a renewable resource. Well, it’s quite the contrary. The reality is it is three times as bad as the fossil diesel because of land use change emissions. And that’s not even taking into consideration the devastating effects deforestation is having on endangered species natural habitats.

Once they learned about this misunderstanding a law was passed in the European Parliament recognizing the harm it is doing, but that evidently isn’t the end of the matter. The European Commission opposed the palm oil phase-out and the Indonesian and Malaysian governments are busy lobbying.

Laura Buffet of Transport and the Environment explains:

“Forcing motorists to burn palm oil in their cars because it’s supposedly green is appalling. It’s been a disaster for rainforests and wildlife, and it’s a major public relations disaster too. This new law voted today gives the Commission three months to put an end to European governments subsidizing the highest emitting biofuels such as palm oil and soy in diesel. The ball is now firmly in the European Commission’s court.”

Diesels are a total disaster for both humans and orangutans (now an endangered species due to deforestation for palm oil). To know that over half the palm oil used in Europe is actually put into gas tanks almost seems like a bad joke. This whole situation is atrocious and if it’s not dealt with as soon as possible it will be an irreversible catastrophe.

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