Liu Yang

Shanghai Fine Chemical Co., Ltd., China

Introduction

The oil palm tree, whose fruit is known as Elaies guinensis, is an ancient tropical plant that originated from Western part of Africa,[1]but can flourish wherever heat and rainfall are abundant.[2]This kind of tree provides the highest yield of oil per unit area of cultivated land, about 58.431 million metric tons (MT)every year.[1]Generally, there are two types of oils that are from the fruit of palm tree: palm oil and palm kernel oil (Figure 1), in which palm oil takes over 80% of the total oils that we get. By definition the palm oil is a type of vegetable oil derived from the fresh mesocarp of the fruits of palm tree. The unrefined palm oil is red in color, and contains triglycerides with approximately 50%saturated fatty acids (mainly palmitic acid, a C16fatty acid), 40% monounsaturated and 10% polyunsaturated fatty acids, along with carotenoids (β carotene), vitamin E and β-sistosterol.[3]Another type of minor oil derived from the seed/kernel of palm fruit is palm kernel oil,which is light yellow in color with limited amounts of carotenoids and contains up to 86% saturated fatty acids,mainly lauric and myristic acids (C12and C14fatty acid respectively).[4]

Palm oil and Palm kernel oil are very important in the global trade,[5]in which palm oil plays a more dominant role. In total, 50 million tons of palm oil is produced annually, supplying over 30% of the world’s vegetable oil production.[6]Palm oil generates the highest yields per hectare compared to all other oil crops[4]and has overtaken soybean oil as the most important vegetable oil in the world.[7]

Figure 1. Originated parts of the two distinct oils in a palm fruit

Applications

With unique and superior properties that are required in the world market, palm oil has become a common ingredient in many products. The applications of palm oil can be briefly divided into three parts: food industry,oleochemical and bio-energy applications (Table 1).[2]

Table 1. Summarized applications of palm oil and palm kernel oil

Food applications

Palm oil has a unique fatty acid and triacylglycerol profile which makes it suitable for numerous food applications, such as cooking oil, shortenings, margarines and spreads, vegetable ghee, confectionery, non-dairy products and so on.[2]

As demonstrated above, with only 10% unsaturated fatty acid and some other high antioxidant contents which make it resistant to oxidation or polymerization, palm oil has a high smoke point of about 230℃. Furthermore,taking its non-sticky and non-foaming characteristics into account, palm oil is an excellent cooking oil which is widely used in Africa, Southeast Asia and partial places of Brazil.[1]

Palm oil is ideally suited for use as an ingredient in shortenings and margarines as it has 20% ～ 22% solid fat content at 20°C, which helps in the formulation of fat products with a plastic range. It tends to crystallize in small beta-prime crystals, a property desirable for some applications, in particular table and industrial margarines.[2]

Oleo-chemical applications

Beside food applications, palm oil is also comprehensively used in oleo-chemicals, especially in the soap, detergent and cosmetic applications.

From the compositions of palm oil and palm kernel oil which are already stated above, the main industrial products that we can get are C12, C14and C16fatty acids, no matter if they are saturated or not. These fatty acids can be directly used or further derived and produced into fatty acid sulfate, fatty acid methyl esters, fatty alcohols, fatty alcohol ethoxylates, fatty acid methyl ester sulfonate and so on. On the other hand, glycerol, monoacylglycerols,structured triacylglycerols, sugar and wax esters can also be obtained.[8]Fatty sulfates are used extensively in the production of washing and cleaning products,and fatty esters are used in various industries such as biodiesel, textile, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, plastic and others.[2]For instance, derived from the fatty acids in palm kernel oil, C12-14fatty alcohol is one of the two raw materials to produce APG1214, which is a bio-surfactant widely used in cosmetic and household industries. APGs are considered as the fourth generation of surfactants attracting more and more enterprises to use in their precious formulations.

Bio-energy applications

Palm oil can also be used as the crude oil to produce the bio-diesel, especially the second generation bio-diesel for energy. This second generation bio-diesel is hydrocracked, so it’s also called hydro-treated bio-diesel (HBD).Due to its high quality that releases lower CO2emission compared with the first generation bio-diesel, this kind of bio-diesel is getting more and more attention all over the world. In 2010, nearly 45% bio-diesel production is from palm oil in Korea.[8]

Problems

Deforestation

As palm oil is used in so many industrial fields,worldwide demands for palm oil have increased significantly over the last years. Because of the huge commercial interests and the requirement of rainforest climate for palm trees to grow, a large amount of rainforest has been destroyed in order to expand more lands for plantation of palm trees,especially the rainforest in Indonesia and Malaysia, as these two countries provide more than 90% of the world’s palm oil in 2011.[9]Just between 2000 and 2012, an amount of virgin rainforest was cleared totaling the size of approximately Ireland in Indonesia,[10]and Indonesia’s oil palm plantations alone already cover 9 million hectares, which counts for the size of the state of Maine (a state in the northeast of USA).[9]According to the World Wildlife Fund, an area the equivalent size of 300 football fields of rainforest is cleared each hour to make way for palm oil production.[6]

This large-scale deforestation is changing the climate of earth, pushing many species to extinction and causing negative impacts to the native people. Deforestation for palm oil production contributes significantly to climate change. The rainforests are felled and peat swamps drained often by the way of burning, which creates a haze that covers large areas, affecting people’s health and emitting immense quantities of smoke into atmosphere. Due to this kind of rude deforestation, Indonesia is the third highest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter in the world.[6]Meanwhile,the rainforests are the original engines to transform carbon dioxide into oxygen which balances the ecosystem of the earth. Burning rainforests will not only generate plenty of GHG, but also ruin the environmental ecosystem and biodiversity.

In addition, the homelands of endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger and rhino, elephant and orangutan disappear when the rainforests shrink. There are over 300,000 different animals found throughout the jungles of Borneo and Sumatra, many of which are injured, killed and displaced during deforestation. What’s more, palm oil development increases accessibility of animals to poachers and wildlife smugglers who capture and sell wildlife as pets,use them for medicinal purposes or kill them for their body parts. For example, the orangutan is a keystone species and plays a vital role in maintaining the health of the ecosystem,but over 90% of orangutan habitat has been destroyed in the last 20 years, and as such, is considered “a conservation emergency” by the UN. Government data has shown that over 50,000 orangutans have already died as a result of deforestation due to palm oil in the last two decades.[6]

Incomplete control of RSPO

In order to stop deforestation and protect the rainforests in SEA, the organization RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) was established in 2004. RSPO is a non-profit united stakeholder set up by WWF, AAK, KLK, Unilever and others[11]from the 7 sectors of the palm oil industry:oil palm producers, processors or traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks/investors, and environmental and social non-governmental organizations (NGOs), whose aim is to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil.[12]In order to manage and supervise the whole supply chain of palm oil, RSPO has developed a set of environmental and social criteria which companies must comply with. When they are properly applied, these criteria can help to minimize the negative impact of palm oil cultivation on the environment and communities in palm oilproducing regions.

Sustainable palm oil certified by the RSPO has been available since November 2008, and provides assurance that valuable tropical forests have not been cleared and that environment and social safeguards have been met during the production of palm oil.[13]Until now, 11.1 million MT CSPO (Certified Sustainable Palm Oil) has been produced by 9 countries, in which 51.64% and 36.86% CSPO comes from Indonesia and Malaysia respectively, occupied nearly 90% of the CSPO production in the world. The others are produced in Papua New Guinea, Brazil and so on. Up to June 2014,1,631 entities from 72 countries have become the members of RSPO including multinationals such as Unilever, P&G,L’Oreal, Johnson & Johnson, Walmart, Carrefour, Nestle and so on.[12]

However, in the past few years, people including some international environment-protest organizations like Greenpeace have questioned RSPO about their ineffective actions on deforestation in SEA, because that the deforestation has yet stopped. Since CSPO is 8%～15% more expensive than the ordinary oil,[14]local palm oil producers and processors, including RSPO members, are more likely to increase their production in order to get more profits, sometimes in an unwilling way.Greenpeace investigation[15]found evidence that some RSPO members are still relying on palm oil suppliers who destroy rainforests and convert peatlands for their plantations and take no steps to avoid the worst practices associated with the industry, such as large-scale forest clearance and taking land from local people without their consent. On November 2015, new photos and video released by Greenpeace Southeast Asia showed freshly planted palm oil saplings on deforested peatland where several fires had recently broken out at the edges of an orangutan sanctuary.[16]On top of this, the RSPO actually risks creating the illusion of sustainable palm oil,justifying the expansion of the palm oil industry.[15]

Besides, some others are not content with RSPO about their current work:[14]

1) RSPO has yet to promote a blanket ban on destruction of peat forests;

2) Non-compliance by RSPO members may be widespread;

3) RSPO lacks teeth;

4) Becoming an RSPO member is too easy.

The action and control of deforestation is incomplete for RSPO, there is still a long way to go.

Rising price and cost

Using 12% of palm oil globally, China is the world’s third largest consumer of palm oil. Around 70% of the palm oil is used as edible oil, much of which is in the instant noodle industry. China is also the second largest importer of palm oil. In the past two years, the average import volume was about 6 million MT per year and it is estimated that this number will reach 12 million in 2020. 54% of the palm oil imported to China is from Malaysia, with the rest coming from Indonesia and others.[11]

Senior chief from Asiatic Development of RSPO - Berhad admitted that the process of getting a RSPO certification is very complicated and costly,[17]which requires a lot of time and money (Figure 2). As mentioned, CSPO is 8%～15%more expensive than the ordinary one. As to its downstream products, the price will raise even higher, which would significantly affect the palm oil relating industries in the world, especially the detergent and cosmetic industries which are very sensitive to the costs of the raw material supplies. For example, the raw material of APGs — fatty alcohol comes from the palm kernel oil and the price for the RSPO certified fatty alcohol is about 20% higher than the ordinary alcohol,which may raise the cost for its downstream enterprises by over 25% due to the “butterfly effect” of the cost in the supply chain. As long as the palm oil is needed under the industrial structure, the rising cost is inevitable.

Figure 2. The process to get RSPO certified

Misunderstanding concept

The deforestation in SEA has attracted the attention all over the world in the past, as the rainforest does not only belong to the local civilian, it also belongs to the whole human-beings. Moreover, loss of the rainforest will also negatively affect the climate of the whole earth, thus more and more people realize this and have the desire to protect forests. Because palm plantation is considered as the killer of the rainforest, there is a conception that palm oil should be avoided in the production process. Although we know that with the help of RSPO, deforestation is being reduced and more and more palm oil is originated from the formal plantation zone, palm oil is still defined as a sensitive raw material. For instance, as the biggest APG manufacturer and supplier in China, Shanghai Fine Chemical often receives the inquiries from Europe and Australia that whether or not you could provide palm-free or coconut based APGs.The certification of RSPO, or even the RSPO Mass Balance product seems not so interesting for them. Actually, there is very limited coconut based alcohol supplied in the market and it is really hard for us to find a stable source.

This is a misunderstanding conception, because APGs with RSPO Mass Balance certification is the same as coconut based APGs in composition, both of which are environmental-friendly and will not destroy the rainforest any longer.

Expectation

Palm oil is so crucial to the food, detergent, cosmetic and other palm oil relating industries in the world’s market that we have to keep a close connection with the source in SEA. However, deforestation has destroyed the ecosystem and balance which results in the climate change on earth. Although much effort has been made to stop this, to completely achieve the final goal still has a long way to go. A wise solution need to be found, which should be land-saving, sunlight-saving and time-saving.

Recently, a technology was worked out which could transform carbon dioxide (CO2) into a kind of oil that is very similar to palm oil. This technology uses hydrogenotrophs as bio-reactor, takes CO2as the raw material and does not need much land and sunlight.What’s more, the reaction time is only a couple of days which is much shorter than natural palm trees. This technology is an ideal solution and could be industrially used to produce the oil for the purpose of solving the problems of palm oil. This will definitely be beneficial to the further development of palm oil relating industries all over the world.

However, the industrial feasibility of this technology is unknown. More solutions need to be found out to improve the supply chain of palm oil.

[1] Ogan I. Mba; Marie-Josee Dumont; Michael Ngadi. Palm oil: processing, characterization and utilization in the food industry — a review. Food Bioscience IO 2015, 26-41.

[2] http://www.palmoilworld.org/applications.html.

[3] Van der Vossen; H.A.M.; Mkamilo G.S. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa: Vegetable Oils, PROTA Foundation, Wageningen.Netherlands/Backhuys Publisher, 2007, 15—189.

[4] Norhaizan M.E.; Hosseini S.; Gangadaran S.; et al. Palm oil:features and applications. Lipid Technology 2013, 25(2), 39-42.

[5] Schroeder M.T.; Becker E.M.; Skibsted L.H. Molecular mechanism of antioxidant synergism of tocotrienols and carotenoids in palm oil. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2006, 54(9),3445-3453.

[6] http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/Whats_the_issue.php.

[7] Oil World. Oil world annual 2013. http://www.oilworld.biz/app.php (Released June 2013)

[8] M. Y. Jung. Palm Oil in Oleochemical Application.

[9] https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/topics/palm-oil.

[10] http://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_dyson_a_forgotten_space_age_technology_could_change_how_we_grow_food.

[11] Measuring the Progress of Palm Oil Buyers. WWF, 2013.

[12] http://www.rspo.org.

[13] The Journey Towards Sustainable Palm Oil: How Your Company Get Started. WWF, 2012.

[14] William F. Laurance; Lian P. Koh; Rhett Butler. Improving the performance of the roundtable on sustainable palm oil for nature conservation. Conservation Biology 2009, 24(2), 377-381.

[15] http://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/campaigns/forests/problems/palm-oil/.

[16] http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/press/releases/2015/Greenpeace-exposes-recently-burnt-Indonesian-forest-replacedwith-palm-oil/.

[17] http://baike.baidu.com/link?url=lDyRaG95sk6RF6O20Nl_pV 71m7BisQFCaeAwS5GXDfj0XyOTxFgqv_GMFldphbY0nbb5 xg46ohX9zQcvZ4rj7K.