{"id":36957,"date":"2020-04-15T09:06:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T09:06:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-06-08T16:09:32","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T16:09:32","slug":"11957-as-palm-oil-for-biofuel-rises-in-southeast-asia-tropical-ecosystems-shrink","status":"publish","type":"photo_story","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/energy\/11957-as-palm-oil-for-biofuel-rises-in-southeast-asia-tropical-ecosystems-shrink\/","title":{"rendered":"As palm oil for biofuel rises in Southeast Asia, tropical ecosystems shrink"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Back in 2003, the European Union ruled that biofuels must make up 5.75% of the bloc\u2019s transport fuel by the year 2010 \u2013 a goal that was updated in 2009 to 10% by 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intended to help tackle climate change, the move had the opposite effect. Emissions resulting from changing tropical landscapes to grow biofuel crops were three times higher than from the fossil fuels they replaced, according to a 2015 report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biofuels \u2013 liquids or gases made from plant products including oil crops such as palm, soy, corn, coconut and rapeseed \u2013 are not the sound green alternative to petrol and diesel they were once thought to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Europe has recently amended regulations to limit future imports of palm oil for biofuels. But rising demand in Indonesia, Malaysia and China could make up for this market shift in Southeast Asia, where roughly 90%<\/a> of the world\u2019s palm oil is produced. There are concerns that palm oil for biofuels could replace growing the crop for food and cosmetics as the key driver of deforestation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n