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by The jungles of Borneo are rapidly being replaced with palm oil plantations in a bid to keep up with burgeoning global demands for bio-fuel, causing the deaths and displacement of increasing numbers of orangutans.
With European laws demanding 2% of all diesel to be vegetable oil, rising to 5.7% in 2010 and 10% by 2020, the demand for palm oil will only increase. This has led the government of Borneo to implement a plan that will create 40,000 square miles of plantations by 2010, 70% of which will replace existing forests. The standard practice for plantation firms is to burn the forest and then buy up the degraded land for a pittance. Lone Nielsen, director of the Borneo Orangutan Survival center, estimates that for each of the 227 orangutans they rescued last year, five more were killed in central Borneo alone, most often by loss of habitat and plantation workers.
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Bitterest Irony by LordDilly :: NR8 :: on 17 August 2007
So it's come to this. Burning down rain forest (anyone remember the "save the rain forest" entreaties a few years ago?) and destroying a species for "eco-friendly" fuel. Is this a result of the man-made global warming hysteria? Is this what happens when the demands of the European nanny-state form an unholy union with the worst excesses of capitalism? Here's the worst part for me: if the Eu really gave a damn about global warming or whatever the hell it is they are trying to do, they'd be pumping resources into a viable and affordable electric car.
RE: Bitterest Irony by Eye.Of.Sage :: NR6 :: on 18 August 2007
As we all say, "Life isn't fair". You must give up something for something in return. To save the Earth from the destructive force of the gradually building global warming risk, we must destroy all the Orangutans. This is like some freaky episode in The outer Limits where people are being converted and burned as fuel. Well, not exactly the same, but you know same concept, sacrifice one to save another.
RE: Bitterest Irony by gnifyus :: NR7 :: on 18 August 2007
But the question is, what are we saving in terms of global warming by switching to vegetable oil? Even if we switched to 100% vegetable oil, we would still be burning it in the diesel engines causing more or less the same greenhouse gases as petroleum based diesel. The only advantage is to the fringe users who can convert their engines and collect the oil from restaurants and get their fuel for free. (We'll all have to start eating more fries and onion rings.)
The only other advantage is economic; for the countries who wish to make a market in vegetable oil as this news item points out.
RE: Bitterest Irony by Eye.Of.Sage :: NR6 :: on 18 August 2007
Well, we'll be prolonging our inevitable demise by a few years. Vegetable Oil is a bit better.