Another oil that is being used for fuel is palm oil.
Palm oil is the most widely produced food oil. It is an extract of the fruit of the oil palm tree. Palm kernel oil is extracted from the seeds of the fruit.
The sprawl of oil palm plantations is wiping out thousands of species in Malaysia and Indonesia. That is where more than 25,000 square miles of hardwood rainforest have been cleared and are being used to grow palm oil. In 2006 Malaysia was the world’s leading producer of palm oil. Their palm oil industry brings in about $6 billion, and is second only to their electronics industry.
One of the chief reasons why orangutans on Borneo and Sumatra are facing extinction is that vast expanses of the forests where they have lived have been cleared by fire to expand oil palm and tropical wood plantations. Included in the list of species that are facing extinction because of these plantations are the Sumatran rhinoceros, Asian elephant, and Sumatran tiger. Several hundred people have also died in recent years defending their land against the expansion of the palm oil industry.
Oil palm plantations and production of palm oil damages the environment by reducing the soil base, poisoning the rivers, and polluting the air. Because peat swamps of Southeast Asia are also being drained to grow oil palm plantations, this increases environmental damage as the carbon escaping from the drying peat contributes to global warming. Roads created to manage the plantations cut through waterways, destroy more wildlife habitat, and provide ways for hunters of exotic animals to gain easy access to endangered wildlife.
Palm oil, which is high in saturated fat and low in polyunsaturated fat, is often cited as unhealthful oil that promotes heart disease. It is especially harmful to health after it has been heated.
It is often cited that raw palm oil is beneficial to health because it contains carotenoids, co-enzyme Q-10, magnesium, vitamin K, omega fatty acids, and tocotrienols. Because of its betacarotene content, raw palm oil has an orange tint, but when it is heated the carotenoids and other nutrients are destroyed and the oil becomes white and very unhealthful.
There are many fruits and vegetables that are excellent sources of the nutrients found in palm oil, and that do not cause damage to the environment and wildlife.
Often palm oil is labeled as “vegetable oil” in everything from chocolate to bread, cookies, margarine, shortening, and microwave popcorn. It is also used in makeup, lotions, soaps, shampoos and conditioners, in toothpaste, and in detergents. It has been used as an industrial lubricant for machinery.
More recently palm oil is being used as an ingredient in biodiesel. As demand increases for biodiesel, the governments of Southeast Asia have been seeking out every possibility of taking advantage of this market and are promoting the export of palm oil.
A more environmentally safe and sustainable oil to use for combustible engines is hemp oil, and preferably grown in the regions where it is being used.