The Nexus of Biofuels, Climate Change, and Human Health Workshop Summary (2014) / Chapter Skim
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2 Case Study: The Palm Oil Example
2 Case Study: The Palm Oil Example
Pages 29-36
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From page 29... ...
In the workshop's second session, Jamal Hisham Hashim, a research fellow at the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health and a professor of environmental health at the National University of Malaysia, described Malaysia's efforts at using palm oil to produce biodiesel fuel. The example highlighted some of the major benefits and challenges of developing biofuels.
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From page 30... ...
The growth strategy for the palm oil industry is not to increase the acreage being planted with palm oil, but rather to increase production to 6 metric tons per hectare per year. "It is already a very productive crop," Hisham Hashim said, "but we intend to increase productivity further through genetic methods and so on." Another focus is on value-added downstream activities, such as processed foods, oleo derivatives, phytonutrients, and palm biodiesel.
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From page 31... ...
The Malaysian government's plan is to combine 5 percent palm biodiesel with 95 percent petroleum diesel, in a way similar to the addition of 10 percent ethanol into gasoline in the United States. In response to a question about why the percentage should be just 5 percent, Hisham Hashim explained that it is simply an economic issue.
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From page 32... ...
Furthermore, diesel vehicle use in Malaysia is very small, accounting for only 5 percent of the total number of private vehicles. The initial government plan for encouraging palm biodiesel was to require government diesel vehicles to use a fuel blend with 5 percent palm diesel, referred to as B5.
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From page 33... ...
"Some of this is still happening," Hisham Hashim said, "but the government is clamping down on the palm oil plantation owners." OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH HAZARDS IN THE PALM OIL INDUSTRY One of the main occupational health hazards in the palm oil industry is the risk of back problems caused by the harvesting. "We're manually harvesting the fruit," Hisham Hashim explained, "so we're causing ergonomic problems like lower back pain and injury." Eye injuries are another risk of fruit harvesting, because workers use sickles to harvest the fruit, which can lead to debris flying into workers' eyes if they do not have eye protection.
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From page 34... ...
Furthermore, the Malaysian government is focusing on responsible plantation management as a way of minimizing environmental damage and occupational health hazards associated with palm oil production. "Many of these plantations are huge companies, so they should be responsible for putting together better and a more sustainable management of palm oil plantations.
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From page 35... ...
So that was quite successful." But with the rising price of palm oil, the Malaysian government saw an opportunity to make the palm oil industry a significant contributor to the Malaysian economy, and "that's when they started big concessions to companies to open up huge tracts of land." The yield on a large palm oil plantation is about double the yield achieved by the small holders. Thus, it seemed that moving to large plantations would be the best way to manage the industry, he said, but there does seem to be a need "to balance between large plantations and small holders." Hisham Hashim added some details about the prospects of exporting biodiesel, given that local consumption is limited.
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From page 36... ...
2012. September 2012: Malaysia: Economic transformation advances palm oil industry.
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