Palm oil is used because it has the highest yield per hectare and requires little maintenance after fully grown. This means kg per kg, palm oil uses less land compared to any other oil crop. The tree keeps fruiting for 5-10 years, requiring no replanting for the duration, unlike soy or corn which needs replanting each harvest. Replanting uses more pesticides, fertilizers and degrades the soil. The tree also pretty much can grow anywhere in the tropics. You have to cancel out all of these advantages before saying you have created an alternative.
Hundreds of thousands of acres of rainforest are cleared for palm plants. Borneo’s primates are near extinction because of it. That’s what’s wrong with palm oil production.
The article mentions a lot of culinary uses, but palm oil also gets heavy use in the cosmetics and soap industries. I wonder if this alternative could be effective for those as well.
Add comment