PALM OIL TECHNOLOGY

Palm Oil Investment - 3 Reasons Why Palm Oil is a Good Investment

2010-08-23T22:43:00.000-07:00

Image source : http://www.indonesianpalmoil.com/

With the current sub-prime credit woes in the United States and the sky rocketing global crude oil prices, many people are finding it challenging to invest their hard earn money. Most of the investment instruments in the market are either tied to the world stock market or crude oil prices. However, there is one form of investment that has a good and strong fundamentals for sustainable growth and returns. It is palm oil (P.O). This article will highlight 3 reasons why palm oil is a good investment for the public.

1) World population growth. The population of the world has just breached 6 billion. The number will increase exponentially in the near future. This is a great support for the demand of P.O because as an edible oil, it is used in the manufacturing of numerous consumable products. The items derived from palm oil are ranging from ice cream, chocolates, candles, cooking oil, soap, detergent etc.

2) The banning of using trans fat in the US. Since January 2007, US has banned the usage of artificial trans fat on packaged food. Trans fat is a vegetable oil that has been treated with hydrogen in order to make it more solid and give the food a longer shelf life. This substance has been shown to cause major health risks such as cancer and coronary heart disease when consumed. The suitable replacement for trans fat is palm oil.

3) Bio-diesel fuel to replace gasoline. This is going to be the major push for the high demand of P.O in the future. With the current high global crude oil prices, countries around the world is at the mercy of the oil producers. An alternative energy source will have to be found to solve this problem. One feasible replacement for gasoline is bio-diesel. One of the main element to produce cost effective bio-diesel is palm oil.

There are many more reasons that support the high future demand for palm oil. It is surprising how the fruits from these plants can be so versatile and useful. This shows that money really can grow on trees.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=W._L._Yap

Palm oil industry and poverty reduction

2010-08-20T00:36:00.000-07:00

Image source : http://insightsabah.gov.my/article/read/37

Opinion,TheJakartaPost.Com

Writing in the International Herald Tribune late last year, Tun Dr. Lim Yeng Kaik, a former senior Malaysian Cabinet minister, characterized the campaign of Western environmental activists to restrict the palm oil industry as the environmental version of the “White Man’s Burden”. The aim was to impose western values on colonial peoples. He coined the term the Green Man’s burden.

The Indonesian palm oil industry showed similar resentment when Nestle and Unilever bowed to pressure several months ago from Greenpeace to restrict use of palm oil and paper products from Indonesia. Small holders, representing the 20 million people dependent on the industry, protested in Jakarta and industry leaders threatened to lead boycotts of Unilever products.

If Greenpeace got the point, it is ignoring it. This week it released in Amsterdam a scurrilous report, Pulping the Planet, which purported to attack one of Indonesia’s largest and the most successful resources companies, Sinar Mas.

The company is just a proxy target. Greenpeace is taking aim at the path Indonesia has taken to raise living standards and reduce poverty. The Greenpeace message is “do it our way, or not at all”. If the cost is poverty, so be it.

In the same way Europe transformed forest land as it industrialized and developed, so too are Indonesia and other developing countries. At least Greenpeace is consistent in one respect. It would have also opposed the industrialization of the Ruhr in Germany and the north of England. Its ideal world is an undisturbed environment, even if life spans are short and living standards low.

Greenpeace’s complaint is the very success Indonesia’s major resources companies have had in building prosperity and jobs out of one of Indonesia’s greatest natural resources — its rich soils and climate. It contends too much forest is being converted. Around 25 percent of the country of which around half is forested is reserved for forest. Is that not enough? It is far more than the average reserved in Europe.

Greenpeace claims stopping any further conversion will save endangered species. That will not: only deliberate conservation programs save species; and they are well supported by the very companies Greenpeace is seeking to demonize.

The Greenpeace strategy is to bring external pressure to bear on the Indonesian government to go further than it has committed in its agreement with the Norwegian government to adopt a broad program of sustainable forestry.

That agreement contains a commitment to a temporary moratorium on further conversion of forest and peat land for expansion of palm oil and plantation forestry.

The Greenpeace demand in the report attacking Sinar Mas is clear — make the moratorium permanent.

The commitment must be temporary for two reasons. First, the facts of the situation are not clear. A lot of land has been cleared but not taken up with new plantations. Why not? One reason is confusion over land titles and permits issued by different government authorities which overlap.

As well, Indonesia does not have a proper inventory of what generates greenhouse gas emissions.

Strategies to meet the government commitment to reduce emissions cannot be developed until proper data is acquired.

The second reason is that the policy framework in Indonesia governing land use and plantations needs fine tuning, not overturning. It enables continuing development, sets aside land for natural forest and supports conservation.

As the forestry minister has observed, Indonesia cannot afford a permanent moratorium. “Where will the jobs come from?” he asked. The President wants annual economic growth climb to 7 percent. That won’t happen if growth in the agro-forestry industries is halted.

The Greenpeace methods are, as usual, disreputable. Its report on Sinar Mas is a standard Greenpeace production, dressed up with 100 references and 300 footnotes to give credit to a deceit of verisimilitude. Its purpose is to color the campaign to pressure business partners to eschew dealings with Indonesian companies.

Its manner is also culturally offensive. This report employs a gambit previously used against Malaysian companies. They are attacked as secretive and conspiratorial. The key evidence? The companies are privately-owned, family companies. That is the model on which most major locally-based companies have developed in Asia.

Greenpeace has also the gall to describe executives of businesses who will not bend to its demands they cease trading with the targets of its campaigns as “forest criminals”. It has a long record of branding businesses as illegal on the basis of unsupportable and unverifiable claims.

If any allegation of crime were to waive around it would be that the Greenpeace campaign against Indonesia’s pulp and paper and palm oil industries is a “crime against poverty” for an increase in poverty would be an indubitable outcome if Greenpeace’s strategies were adopted.

A reduction in expansion of palm oil production would mean a fall in the availability of a low cost food staple for the poor in Asia and Africa.

Greenpeace has got cocky. In the US it likes to describe itself as “the bad cop” and brags it can devalue company brands and reputations. But others are starting to see it for what it is. Recently the New Zealand Charities Commission revoked its charitable status. It ruled Greenpeace was a political organization that used illegal methods.

It is therefore unsurprising Greenpeace should be insensitive to Indonesia’s history. The Dutch colonial era during which the Dutch East India Company operated its mercantilist version of the “White Man’s Burden” more for the benefit of shareholders in the Netherlands than the people of the archipelago still rankles.

Yet Greenpeace today cajoles multinational corporations to partner it in a campaign to visit on their descendants the Green Man’s Burden. And to cap all this off, its annual reporting shows campaigns in Southeast Asia have been funded by revenue deriving from Dutch gambling.

It is therefore unsurprising Greenpeace should be insensitive to Indonesia’s history.
The writer is chairman of World Growth, an NGO based in Arlington,Virginia.

Boiler Water Treatment in Palm Oil Mills

2010-08-18T03:33:00.000-07:00

Image Source : http://www.museum.agropolis.fr/english/pages/expos/aliments/matieres_grasses/images/palmierahuile.htm

Having eight years of experience working with biomass-fired boilers in palm oil mills, I can say that boiler water treatment in palm oil mills is a challenging task if compared with industrial boilers. Unlike industrial boilers which rely heavily on condensate return and industrial water for boiler feed water makeup, the source of raw water for boiler feed water in palm oil mills comes from lake, river, or well. Relatively not much condensate can be recovered in palm oil mills due to the high amount of unrecoverable sterilizer condensate and the application of live steam in some of the process heating. In palm oil mills, low cycle of concentration is not uncommon which indicates more chemicals are wasted through blowdowns.

The raw water from natural resources is high in impurities, turbidity, dissolved gases, and mineral content. Sometimes algae, mud and oil could be present and silica is particularly a problem in water from lakes, and this scenario complicates treatment further. Lack or inadequate water treatment is dangerous as it may cause scaling and corrosion which affect the reliability, efficiency, and safe operation of the boiler.

In general, boiler water treatment consists of external and internal water treatment. External water treatment refers to conditioning boiler feedwater by removing impurities, hardness, oil, oxygen, dissolved and suspended solids, outside the boiler and usually accomplished by mechanical means such as continuous clarifier, pressure sand filter, water softener, and deaerator. Because it is not possible to obtain a perfect boiler feed water by external water treatment, an internal water treatment, which mainly by chemical means, shall be employed. All boiler engineers must be aware that the external treatment of boiler feedwater must be emphasized since more chemical addition in the boiler is undesirable.

In industrial boilers, the removal of turbidity and suspended matters is already done by the municipal water treatment system. This is however a different story in palm oil mills. The external treatment for boiler makeup (feedwater) consists of pH adjustment, coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, water softening, and finally, deaeration. Soda ash is added if the pH of the water is low. Soda ash acts as pH adjustment because coagulant functions at pH ranges over 5.5 to 8.0. The coagulation chemicals are dosed into the inlet pipe leading to the bottom of a continuous water clarifier. Coagulation and flocculation are the basic steps in boiler water treatment to reduce turbidity, organic substances, and color of raw water. Coagulation neutralizing the negative charges on colloid surfaces, allowing the particles to agglomerate to form floc, which is slow settling. The most common coagulants are aluminum sulfate (alum), sodium aluminate, and polyaluminum chloride (PAC). Synthetic polymers called polyelectrolites have been developed for coagulation process. Flocculation is further agglomeration of slowly-settling coagulated particles into large rapidly-settling floc with the addition flocculant such as organic polymer (starch) or synthetic polymer such as polyacrylamide (PAM) to attach and bridge between particles to form larger agglomerates.

From the natural resources, the water is pumped by booster pumps into the continuous clarifier to allow flocs to settle down. The water rises with decreasing velocity and the resultant floc forms a sludge blanket at the upper part of the conical section. The clarifier is blowdown periodically to remove the heavy sludge, which settled at the bottom while clear water is transported to a clear water tank before passing through a pressure sand filter where solids escaped from the clarifier and fine particles are filtered and removed. Normally, the sand filter removes fine particles up to 10 μm. Sand filters normally contain sands and gravels, 100% anthracite, or combination of sand, anthracite, and gravel. Sufficient water reservoir is maintained in the overhead tank and if the level of water in the tank becomes low, the operation of boilers could be affected. In water softener, sodium zeolite ion-exchange process is used to remove hardness. The function of a softener is to remove water hardness (calcium and magnesium) using ion exchange process. Normally sodium zeolite is used and a softener would contain 30~36" of synthetic ion exchange resin. For example, calcium bicarbonate, Ca(HCO3)2 dissolves in water and split up to Ca2+ and (HCO3)-. In ion-exchange process, Ca2+ is removed by replacing sodium ion using resin ion-exchange bed which is covered with Na+ ions. Here in palm oil mills, the softeners are prone to bio and iron fouling. Soft water is then pumped into the deaerator for deaeration. The pressurized deaerator operates by allowing steam into the feed water through a pressure control valve to maintain the desired operating pressure, and hence temperature at a minimum of 105°C. The steam raises the water temperature causing the release of O2 and CO2 gases that are then vented from the system. This type can reduce the oxygen content to 0.005 ppm. The water produced is oxygen-free therefore oxygen corrosion in the boiler can be avoided.

The internal treatment involves the addition of reactant chemicals such as sulfite, sodium phosphate, chelates, polymers, and caustic, which each has different function in treating boiler water. To prevent oxygen corrosion, the chemical known as oxygen scavenger is added. The common oxygen scavengers are sulfite, hydrazine, and DEHA. Hydrazine however should be avoided because it is carcinogenic.. Phosphate prevents scaling by precipitating calcium as calcium triphosphate or hydroxylaptite, which can be removed via blowdown.

For more detail Q & A's on boiler water treatment, visit http://www.boiler-ebook.com/WaterTreatment.html

Hashim, Hisham. earned a B.S. (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from Mississippi State University (1993) and holds a 1st Grade Steam Engineer's Certificate of Competency from Department of Safety & Health (Malaysia) since 1998. Mr. Hisham is a Member of the Institution of Engineers (Malaysia) and had spent 8 years in Palm Oil Mills and 6 years in chemical industries.

http://www.boiler-ebook.com

Biofuel Study Looks at Cost to Wildlife and Environmental Diversity

2010-08-15T21:03:00.001-07:00

ScienceDaily.com — Whether we can grow bio-energy crops such as switchgrass and forage sorghum isn't the question, said a Texas AgriLife Research scientist.

The question is, where's the nitrogen going to come from to grow these crops and how much is it going to add to the cost of the end product, said Dr. Gerald Smith, AgriLife Research legume breeder based in Overton.

And there also are hidden costs, such as the effect of fencerow-to-fencerow crops on wildlife and biodiversity, he said.

"It's time to take the monoculture blinders off," Smith said.

Smith and a team of scientists based at Texas AgriLife Research and Extension centers at Overton, Beeville, Beaumont, Stephenville, Vernon and Lubbock are looking at various cropping systems to solve both problems -- the cost of nitrogen and ways to preserve habitat for valued species such as the whitetailed deer.

"We don't know the long-term future of cellulose bio-fuel crops, but we want to be ready in Texas to grow them if they prove lucrative," he said. "And we want to preserve our wildlife while we do so."

Smith and other Overton forage and livestock researchers have worked with legumes for livestock systems specifically for East Texas and the southern U.S. for years. Smith, a legume breeder, has developed numerous varieties bred for improving winter grazing, including Apache Arrowleaf Clover and Rio Verde lablab, a new forage and seed crop for Texas.

But this study is one of the more complicated that he's been involved with, he said, as it tries to look at the interactions in the big picture, not just what is happening in the hay pasture or wildlife food plot.

"We know we can use legumes as a source of nitrogen," Smith said. "We have a couple of different kinds that we have worked with here that we know will work in these soils. But now we want to look at sustainable production of cellulosic biomass with attention to natural resource conservation and wildlife stewardship. It's a different ball game. There's a lot we need to learn."

Smith and the team know that both cool-season legumes like clovers and warm-season legumes such as cowpeas can bring a lot of nitrogen in a cropping system. They even have a pretty good idea of how much nitrogen, in terms of pounds per acre, different varieties under various cropping systems can add to the soil.

Any type of plant other than a legume quickly exhausts nitrogen reserves in the soil and has to have some source of nitrogen, either from commercial fertilizer made from fossil fuels or animal waste such as composted chicken litter. The cost of producing and hauling the litter to the field can be a limiting factor on economical crop production, particularly in the southern region, where nitrogen is more quickly leached from sandy, acidic and weathered soils, Smith said.

"We have known this for a long time," Smith said. "But there's a lot of things we don't know. We also want to be able to match that or complement the use of the fertilization nitrogen with the nitrogen that we are gaining from the legumes. If we have to apply nitrogen (as well) through commercial fertilizer or manure, we want to make sure the plant that we are applying it for uses it very efficiently."

For example, though it's known how much nitrogen a legume fixes in the soil, it's not known how much will be made available to a crop such as a high-biomass sorghum. And if commercial fertilizer or manure has to be added to the system, it is not known when can it be added so that the legume won't over-compete with the biomass crop for space and nutrients.

And there are questions about the effect on wildlife. In previous studies, Smith and Dr. Billy Higginbotham, Texas AgriLife Extension Service wildlife specialist, have established the most attractive legume mix for whitetailed deer food plots. But they don't know how deer will adapt to various cropping systems where legumes are intercropped with high-biomass sorghum.

"There are a lot of questions," Smith said. "Can we make the system more efficient by using multiple sources of legumes and a really low rate of fertilizer, or is it more efficient to maybe even skip a year of application of fertilizer? Is it more efficient to grow cowpeas one year and the high bio-mass sorghum the next year?"

There are also questions about what happens in a drought, in terms of crop survival and nitrogen usage, he said.

All these questions make for a very complicated research design. And in Texas, one size or design doesn't fit all, Smith said.

For example, from eastern to the western limits of northern Texas, average annual rainfall varies greatly. In Longview, it is about 46 inches. In Lubbock, 450 miles to the west, it is less than 19 inches, he said.

"Obviously such a gradient will dictate differing specifics such as farming systems, appropriate legumes, adapted cellulosic biomass species and targeted wildlife such as whitetailed deer, quail and turkey," Smith said.

Soils and other environmental aspects also differ widely from border to border. In northeast Texas and southeast Oklahoma, soils are sandy and low in plant nutrients and nitrogen costs for pastures or any crop will be high.

At the Overton site, tests will examine how legumes fit into any forage production system for grazing or biofuel feedstock. Smith and Higginbotham will give special attention to the effect on whitetailed deer grazing using automatic cameras, Smith said

In Central Texas, near the Stephenville, dryland trials will examine biomass production from native, warm-season perennial grasses grown with native warm-season annual legumes and naturalized annual cool-season legumes. The tests will look at carbon sequestration, soil organic matter and nitrogen levels on different soils over several years.

At Vernon, team members will work with annual medics and alfalfa, both legumes, to reduce nitrogen fertilization on perennial cool-season and warm-season grasses.

At Beeville, about 70 miles north of Corpus Christi, annual precipitation is about 32 inches and temperature varies from 42 degrees in January to 95 in August. Team members will look at multi-year and multi-location cellulose yields of native, warm season perennial grasses fertilized with native warm-season annual legumes.

Despite the different cropping systems, it's important to remember that sites will evaluate adapted legumes as nitrogen-source crops for cellulosic biomass production systems, Smith said.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Texas A&M AgriLife Communications. The original article was written by Robert Burns.

What Are Biofuels?

2010-08-12T01:41:00.000-07:00

Image Source http://www.biofuel-solution.com/

Biofuels are fuels produced from plants of various kinds. This is in contrast to fossil fuels, which are produced from fossilized materials.

Hemp Biofuels

Bio-fuels are generated from the hemp seeds that can be harvested as a result of using a robust hemp variety. These seeds, in turn, can be converted into bio-fuels. Bio-fuels have several advantages over conventional fuels, e.g. diesel.

One important factor is that these are produced locally, creating employment in rural areas while reducing the need for transportation. Bio-Fuel-Cells (BFCs) are also important and promising devices for efficient transfer of any fuel to electricity, which is the most suitable form for many applications. However, it is important to realize that societies do not live on fuels/energy alone

Ethanol As A Biofuel

Ethanol is largely produced from molasses, a byproduct of sugar. Molasses is either picked up by the breweries or used in production of ethanol. Ethanol is an alcohol-based fuel produced by fermenting and distilling starch crops that have been converted into simple sugars.

All gasoline vehicles made after 1980 are capable of operating on gasoline/ethanol blends with up to 10 percent ethanol with no modifications.

Ethanol production utilizes abundant domestic energy feedstocks, such as coal and natural gas, to convert corn into a premium liquid fuel. Only about 17 percent of the energy used to produce ethanol comes from liquid fuels, such as gasoline and diesel fuel.

Ethanol has a high octane rating, which allows an optimum timing for engine ignition and has a fast flame speed in the cylinder, so the fuel burns faster, increasing the efficiency of the engine.

Bio-fuels are believed to be a source of clean energy. But experts have said that Brazil has cut down some of its rain forest so it can plant sugar cane to produce ethanol.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel is typically blended at 20% with petroleum diesel. B-20 is used chiefly by vehicle fleets, which get credit for using alternative fuel vehicles without having to purchase new vehicles.

Biodiesel does not add any carbon because it utilises the amount of carbon which naturally circulates between the atmosphere and the biosphere (photosynthesis). Conventional fossil diesel however, does add to the overall level of carbon by extracting carbon deposited in the geosphere (mineral deposits) and releasing it into the atmosphere.

Biomass And Biofuels

Biomass processing results in the end-products biochemicals, biofuels, and biopower, all of which can be used as fuel sources. Biochemicals involve converting biomass into chemicals to produce electricity; biofuels are biomass converted into liquids for transportation; and biopower is made by either burning biomass directly (as with a wood-burning stove) or converting it into a gaseous fuel to generate electric power. Biomass usually consists of organic waste produced by human, animal or plant activity.

Cultivation can grow material for producing bio-fuels such as corn, sugarcane, soybeans, palm oil, flaxseed, jatropha, and rapeseed. Biomass is nothing more than materials that were recently living organisms?in this case, plants and their by-products. Even better, it is a renewable energy source, unlike petroleum and coal, which once used are gone forever.

David Morgan

http://startlivinggreen.org

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_J_Morgan

The Biofuel Debate - What's all the fuss about?

2010-08-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

Image Source : www.sustento.dk

There has been much talk of biofuels and in particular biodiesel being touted as a more carbon friendly alternative to traditional petroleum based fuel...

* Because biodiesel is made from renewable resources (unlike fossil fuels) and it has lower emissions compared to petroleum diesel
* Because it is less toxic than table salt and biodegrades as fast as sugar
* Because it is made entirely from renewable resources such as soybeans, sunflowers, rapeseed and palm oil as well as waste vegetable oil (used cooking oils)

It surely follows biodiesel must be better for the environment...or is it?

Over the last few years through the Kyoto Protocol, governments have discussed the global issue of climate change with a view to setting targets to reduce greenhouse gases. Whilst there has been general agreement that something needs to be done and targets have been set, the United States is the only developed country that has not ratified the treaty and yet it is one of the significant greenhouse gas emitters.

The dilemma seems to be that biodiesel is undoubtedly greener than traditional petroleum based fuel. On the other hand however, as there is no stipulation how and where this fuel is produced, could this 'green' fuel actually be doing more harm to our environment than good?

Let's look at some of the contributing factors to this debate...

Biodiesel - The Good

As an alternative fuel, biodiesel would seem to be a very good alternative to fossil based fuels:-

* Mitigating the effects of greenhouse gas emissions
* Making best use of the remaining limited supplies of fossil fuels
* Reducing air pollution along with the associated health risks to the public
* Benefiting domestic economies by reducing the dependence on importing foreign petroleum
* Relatively easy to produce in small or large volumes

Biodiesel - The Bad

The main problem with bio-fuels today is the source of the raw materials:-

* Biodiesel and ethanol are produced from plant oils and from edible crops meaning competition for basic foodstuffs, food or oil?
* Rain forests are being converted to palm oil production (palm oil is a key ingredient of food and other consumables...it can also be used to produce biodiesel)
* Current crops cannot keep pace with the bio-materials needed for producing biodiesel

Does this mean if we replace traditional petroleum based diesel with biodiesel we'll compromise our supply of foodstuffs?

Biodiesel - The Future

The Biotech Industry has begun to help with the need to find alternative fuel sources for the future by looking at how to get more from less:-

* Increased production of more plants
* Improving crop yields - corn, a common biofuel crop in the USA, yields under 200 barrels (per square mile per year) whereas Jatropha for instance can yield over 2,000 barrels
* Use of marginal land - look at crops (see below) that can be grown on arid land rather than take away arable farmland needed for essential food production. Using arid land in the poorer regions could provide social and economic benefits for that region

New sources that lessen the threat of environmental impact include:-

* Algae - grows quickly, renews quickly but to be a viable option cost effective harvesting remains a challenge
* Jatropha - can be grown in arid climates, has a high yield compared with traditional biocrops, has the potential to increase fertility of the land
* Camalina - Researchers say the Camelina plant is an excellent source of biofuel; it can be grown in arid land, with less water, fertilizer and pesticides

Biodiesel - Many Complex Issues

Diesel engines were in fact originally designed in the early 1900's to run on biodiesel made from oil seed crops and not to run on petroleum-based diesel. Was it a mistake not to encourage the development and take up of biodiesel back then instead of depending almost solely on petroleum?

Despite agreement in principle that biodiesel has a role to play in helping to reduce emissions unless politicians give clear guidelines about the future of renewable fuels there will continue to be a haphazard take up around the world. Most governments have been proceeding with caution and rightly so but mixed messages from governments around the world have only added to the uncertainty around the use biodiesel fuel. What should be the governments role be in promoting the use of biodiesel?

We live in a world today that has largely grown up in a throw away society without due regard to the consequences of waste. This wasteful attitude has been exacerbated by the lack of proper education in the basic skills of survival. It is only relatively recently that modern day governments have begun to encourage large scale recycling.

The challenge we face is to educate the public about the issues surrounding biofuels and what is good or bad. Honest debate not influenced by individual hidden agenda's is the only way to arrive at political choices that embrace all the issues surrounding the use of biofuel.

So, is biodiesel good or bad for the environment?

One thing is for sure, first generation biofuels once thought to be the alternative fuel source of the future, have come under increased scrutiny recently. It is becoming clear that more information is needed about the potentially destructive elements of first-generation biofuels and the impact they have on the environment.

Environmentalists are concerned that the inadvertent consequence of using biodiesel fuel is unrecoverable damage to the environment. Furthermore, developing a dependence on traditional first generation biocrops may result in food competing with fuel over the use of land. We need to determine what the true balance is between good and bad from an environmental perspective.

Clearly governments need to further embrace the concept of reducing greenhouse gas emissions but should they be more proactive in finding a green source for our fuel as well?

Instead of destroying forests maybe we should look to new more "green" raw materials for producing biofuels. We must embrace the promotion of second and third-generation biofuels in an effort to help solve many of the current problems surrounding the use of first generation biodiesel.

Alan Folkard is an avid devotee and follower of all things about Biodiesel oil and supports the adoption of biodiesel as an alternative fuel provided a way can be found to balance the good and bad from an environmental perspective.

Want to enter into the the whole Green Fuel debate? Biodiesel Oil - Is Biodiesel Oil Good Or Bad For the Environment?.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alan_Folkard

Indonesia's Palm Oil Industry Seeks New Standards

2010-08-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

The palm oil industry, which is regularly accused of being a major contributor to climate change, wants to develop a universally accepted measurement of the environmental impact of palm oil production.

Witjaksono Darmosarkoro, director of the state-run Indonesian Oil Palm Research Center (PPKS), said it was inevitable that agricultural activities would create carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming.

However, the sector was also responsible for removing some carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by planting new trees and there was a need for a clear measurement on the net effects of the industry in terms of carbon emissions, he said.

“Activities in the palm oil sector must be measurable, reportable and verifiable,” Witjaksono said on Monday, ahead of the International Conference on Oil Palm and the Environment in Bali from Feb. 23 to Feb. 25.

Palm oil stake holders would begin discussing the issue at the conference, which will be attended by government officials, palm oil producers and scientists, Witjaksono said.

Jean-Guy Bertault, regional director for Southeast Asian island nations at Cirad, a French agricultural research center, said there were many assumptions about carbon emissions from the palm oil industry.

Each country, palm oil producer and non-government organization has their own methodology to calculate the ecological, social and economic impacts of palm oil production, Bertault explained.

“How to protect biodiversity as well as how to use it economically? No one could answer that question, since everyone is using various methodologies,” Bertault said.

Environmental campaign groups such as Greenpeace blame the palm oil industry for driving deforestation, contributing to global climate change and endangering rare species such as orangutans.

Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, which is used to make everything from soap to cooking oil.

Take From : http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/

Palm Oil Is Another Healthy Oil!

2010-02-05T00:23:00.001-08:00

Now that food manufacturers in the U.S. have to label their trans-fat content, some of them are switching to healthier oils like palm and coconut. I am happy to see this change for the better! I hope more grocery store products continue this trend.

Undoubtedly, there will be ignorant people who will cry out that palm oil is an unhealthy saturated fat. Like coconut oil, palm oil has been mislabeled as unhealthy for far too long, when it is actually is a very healthy saturated fat. Both oils have been staples in the diets of tropical people for thousands of years, and have helped people stay lean and healthy for centuries.

Like coconut oil, palm oil is great for baking and frying, and is very stable and solid at room temperature, so it does not require hydrogenation and contains no trans fatty acids. (Trans fat is the bad stuff that you want to avoid like the plague!) According to authors and researchers Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD, of the Weston A. Price Foundation, "palm oil is a stable, healthy, natural fat composed of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids." (http://www.westonaprice.org)

Palm oil is the second most used dietary oil in the world, behind soy oil, and much healthier for you than soy oil. It comes from a different palm tree than coconuts-- a palm tree in Africa that produces small fruits that contain the palm oil. Palm oil is redish orange colored in it's natural (unprocessed) state and a rich source of carotenes and and one of the best sources of vitamin E.

Unprocessed palm oil does have a bit of a strong taste that (for Americans) takes a little getting used to. (I use it when I cook fish, because my family doesn't notice the small flavor difference with the strong fish flavor covering it.) Processed palm oil has the flavor removed, but so are some of the nutrients. But even then, it is still much better for you than soy or canola oil.

I think it is high time Americans see what most of the rest of the world already knows, that switching to palm and coconut oil is definately a change for the better! So, look for products that contain non-hydrogenated coconut or palm oil, or better yet, make your own healthy snacks with these oils.

Reference :
http://www.articlesbase.com/

Palm Oil Is Another Healthy Oil!

2010-02-05T00:22:00.001-08:00

Indonesia: Palm Oil Production Prospects Continue to Grow

2010-02-03T20:35:00.001-08:00

A significant change in the oil palm industry has taken place during the past season, as Indonesia surpassed Malaysia in production of palm oil and is now the world leader. This designation will continue and Indonesia’s production rate will outpace Malaysia for the foreseeable future. Personnel from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) conducted crop-assessment travel in the main palm oil production regions of Sumatra and West Kalimantan during August and September. The team met with palm oil estate managers, agricultural officials, researchers, and independent commodity analysts. The plantation visits were targeted in the country’s most important producing provinces. Regular surveys of fruit bunches three months prior to harvest were indicative of an output surge in fresh fruit bunches. Assuming normal rainfall and based on bunch counts there will be a surge in production during the last quarter of 2007 and into early 2008. In contrast, drier than normal conditions at the beginning of the year marginally reduced output for about three months. Oil production for all major producing areas is favorable despite some dryness in early 2007. Indonesia is forecast to produce 18.3 million metric tons of palm oil in 2007/08.

Palm oil comes from the fruit of the oil palm tree, a tropical species that originated in West Africa, but now grows as a hybrid in many parts of the world, including SE Asia and Central America. The relatively low priced oil is used for a variety of purposes. The world demand for palm oil has soared in the last two decades, first for its use in food, consumer products and more recently as the raw material forf biofuel. The growing affluence of India and China, the worlds top two importing nations, will increase demand of edible vegetable oils. In the US, a recent wave of dietary focus on the trans-fat issues has led to increased consumption. In addition to being less expensive, palm oil is semi-solid at room temperature, making it ideal for baking and food production. Many food manufacturers are trying to find alternatives to trans-fat, partially hydrogenated oils, which contribute to heart disease and other medical problems. Although, palm oil is not without its own contribution to heart disease, the focus on the transfat issue has resulted in palm oil being considered more healthful than some other fats. The other major factor of palm production is its role in sustainable energy campaigns around the globe. European countries have promoted the use of palm oil by injecting hundreds of millions of dollars into national subsidies towards bio-diesel. Europe is now a leading importer of palm oil. Through the subsidizing of biofuels, European governments have accelerated the demand for palm oil in Europe, and as a consequence have accelerated the conversion of large areas of rainforest in South East Asia. Palm oil plantations are often expanded by clearing existing forest land and draining peat swamps. Many economists predict it will be the leading internationally traded edible oil by the year 2012.

Today, Malaysia and Indonesia account for about 87 percent of world production.

Reference :
http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/
For more information contact Jim Crutchfield | james.crutchfield@fas.usda.gov | (202) 690-0135
USDA-FAS, Office of Global Analysis

What is Biodiesel?

2009-09-14T20:41:00.001-07:00

Biodiesel is the fuel of the future, available today. This clean burning fuel alternative is produced from domestic resources, such as soybeans, that are entirely renewable. While biodiesel contains no petroleum, it can be mixed with petroleum to create a powerful biodiesel blend. However, biodiesel can be used in diesel engines without any modifications, making it the best biodegradable, nontoxic form of fuel available. In fact it is so safe, that common table salt has been found to be more toxic that biodiesel.

Unlike the usual vegetable oil based fuels that can only be used in modified, specially made combustion- ignition engines, biodiesel can be used in its simplest form to power the everyday diesel engines on the market today. Imagine companies shipping their products in big rigs run on boidiesel and farmers running their equipment on this biodegradable product.

Biodiesel is made through the simple chemical process of transesterification. During this process, the glycerin is removed from fat or vegetable oil. The process naturally leaves behind byproducts, including methyl esters, which is the chemical name for biodiesel, and glycerin, commonly used in soap production. The best part about biodiesel is that it is free of sulfur and aromatics, something that can't be said about traditional fuels.

Biodiesel isn't even like the other alternative fuels that are available today. It is the only alternative fuel that has completely passed all of the health effects testing requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. That means that Biodiesel is legally registered with the Environmental Protection Agency as a legal fuel for sale and distribution. The companies that produce other vegetable oil fuel alternatives can't sell their products as legal motor fuel, because they can't meet the fuel specifications that are necessary for registration with the EPA.

Biodiesel is much better for the environment than traditional fossil fuels. Biodiesel is made from renewable resources making it a wise fuel choice, ensuring the protection of our environment for future generations. It also has significantly lower emissions compared to the petroleum diesel most people put in their vehicles.

Biodiesel is also better for the economy because it is made in the USA from resources readily available within the countries own borders. When biodiesel is produced from USA grown products, such as soy beans, it lessons the countries dependence on foreign oil and reinvests American money back into the American economy.

This innovative fuel is becoming more widely available. It can be found nationwide at a few select places or purchased directly from producers and marketers. It is a bit more expensive than traditional fuels, but as the demand for safe, biodegradable fuel alternatives increases, the price of biodiesel should rapidly fall. The cheapest way to acquire biodiesel is to make it yourself at home.

REFERENCE :
Get more information about BioDiesel and learn how you can make your very own BioDiesel fuel at: http://www.biodieselathome.net

Indonesia Palm Oil

2009-09-11T00:10:00.000-07:00

Compared with other commodities in the sub-sector plantations, palm oil is one commodity that the most rapid growth in the two the last decade. In the era of the 1980s until the mid-1990s, palm oil industry is growing very rapidly. In that period, the area increased at a rate of about 11% per year. In line with the expansion, production also increased at a rate of 9.4% per year. Domestic consumption and exports also increased rapidly with the rate of each 10% and 13% per year (Directorate General of Plantation Production 2004). The rate is so rapid in the era marked where palm oil is one prima donna on the plantation sub-sector.

In the last five years, when Indonesia was experiencing multidimensional crisis,
CPO industry growth rate began to slow down. In addition because difficulty financing sources / funding, environmental issues and land conflicts, also inhibit the development of business investment in palm oil. In fact there was a view which states that markets palm oil (CPO) is getting fed up. Due all of that, many investors began to hesitate to invest in palm oil business.

In terms of competitiveness and performance, palm oil has assessed the competitiveness and The best performance since its market share continued to increase from approximately 10% in the 1970s to around 28% in the 2000s. Several types of oil vegetable oils such as sunflower and rapeseed oil shares continued to decline. This shows that the CPO in the world market has to shift the competitive role other vegetable oils (Susila 1998; Basiron 2002).

Phase distribution of these premises, in general there are two projection scenariosCPO consumption of the world. The first scenario is a scenario secure / pessimistic. Scenario This can be considered as a safe input for investors who jumped into the business palm oil or the level of consumption / market opportunities will be minimal utilized. This scenario estimates that consumption will grow CPO at a rate between 1.5% - 3.5% until the year 2005. In the first phase, ni scenarios predict consumption growth scenario of about 4% per year until the year 2010. In the period 2010 - 2017, consumption is expected to grow between 1.5% - 3.5% per year. There is a third phase of CPO consumption will natural growth of 1.5%.

The second scenario or optimistic scenarios predict that consumption
CPO world will grow at a rate of between 1.5% - 5.0% in the period 2005-2025.
This projection was the notion of a fairly rapid development in palm oil downstream industries such as biodiesel and Oleochemistry. In the first fsse, consumption is expected to grow between 3.5% -5.0% per year. In the second phase (2010-2017), consumption is expected to grow between 1.9% - 3.3% per year. Furthermore, the phase of natural growth, consumption is expected to grow
with the rate of 1.5% per year.

Malaysia and Indonesia remain the main exporting country with opportunities for their exports of about 3.2% and 6.5% per year. Of point of market share allocation, Indonesia is predicted to dominate the market countries in Western Europe as some English, Italian, Dutch, and German. Malaysia over much of the China market (1.8 million tons), India (1.7 million tons), EU (1.5 million tons), Pakistan (1.1 million tons), Egypt (0.5 million tons), and Japan (0.4 million tons)

There are several factors that underlie the notion that the prospect of a CPO
sunny in competition with other vegetable oils. The first factor support the competitiveness of high palm oil is a high level of efficiency from the oil. Pasquali (1993) and Basiron (2002) mentions that the CPO is the cheapest source of vegetable oil. CPO prices low relative to Other oil related to the high level of CPO production efficiency (Simeh 2004; Susila 1998). Ong (1992) mentions that the productivity of land for business CPO, soybean oil, rapeseed, and copra are respectively 3200, 332, 521, and 395 kg / ha of oil equivalent.

Another factor is that approximately 80% of world population, especially in
developing countries are still likely to increase the consumption per capita for
oils and fats, especially for low cost oil (FAO, 2001). In addition to population factors, increased consumption is also due to the substitution effect
and income effects (Pasquali, 1993). Substitution effect stems from the competitiveness of CPO high so that the population in developing countries tend to substitute consumed oil with cheaper oils. Enough income effect
significant because of rapid economic growth actually occurred in these countries
the growing level of oil and fat consumption is relatively still low at 10.3 kg per capita (FAO, 2001). The next factor which will increase the odds of palm oil is a shift in the industry that uses raw materials of petroleum to material is more environmentally friendly is the raw material Oleochemistry
is a CPO (The World Bank, 1992 and Pasquali, 1993). Tendency already appeared in some developed countries like the United States, Western Europe, and
Japanese.

The success of the Uruguay Round would also strengthen the competitiveness of CPO.This caused oil competitors such as soybean oil and sunflower oil during this
have a strong enough protection from the producer countries, especially
United States and the European Union. These countries consider international markets as a market for 'waste' excess production so that the oil market becomes depressed (Pasquali, 1995). Developing countries CPO production is generally expected to be more able to take advantage vegetable oil trade is more free (Barton, 1993).In caseincreased production, 82% of the impact of the Uruguay Round will be enjoyed by the state growing, while developed countries only about 12% (Pasquali, 1995).

Like most primary agricultural product prices, crude palm oil prices are relatively difficult to predict with high accuracy. Prices tend to fluctuate with
dynamics of change in a relatively very fast. With these difficulties, the
price projections made over the expected range. By arguments such, CPO prices to most of 2005-2025 is expected to fluctuated around U.S. $ 350-450/ton (FAO, 2003; Susila 2002). Number of stock continued to decline in the last five years from about 10% of consumption to 7%, gives an indication that CPO prices would not decline drastically in the short term.

REFERENCE :
WAYAN R. SUSILA
Lembaga Riset Perkebunan Indonesia,Bogor Indonesia
http://ejournal.unud.ac.id

Palm Oil Process

2009-05-25T00:13:00.000-07:00

Source :http://plotspalmoil.com/

Source : http://www.fao.org/

DEVELOPMENT OF PALM OIL INDUSTRY

2009-05-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

The main part to be processed from palm oil is a fruit. The flesh fruit produce crude palm oil is processed into raw materials cooking oil. The advantages of vegetable oil palm oil price is a cheap, low cholesterol, and have a high karoten womb. Palm oil is also processed into raw materials margarine. Oil into the core of the raw material oil and alcohol cosmetics industry. Fruits processed with software to make the flesh of the fruit with the temperature 90 ° C. Soften the meat that has been forced to separate with the core and body shell pressing on with a hollow cylinder engine. Core body shell and the meat separated with heating and pressing techniques. After that flowed into the mud so that the the rest of the body shell will go down to the bottom of the mud. Oil palm fruit processing, the remaining potential to be a mixture of fodder and fermented into compost.

PALM OIL
Palm oil products as the food quality has two aspects. The first aspect related to the degree and quality of fatty acid, moisture and dry dirt. The second aspect related to the taste, aroma and purity, and product purity. Prime quality palm oil (SQ, Special Quality) containing acid fat (FFA, Free Fatty Acid) not more than 2% at the time of shipment. Quality standards palm oil contains no more than 5% FFA. After processing, coconut quality produce palm oil rendemen 22.1% - 22.2% (highest) andfree fatty acid content 1.7% - 2.1% (lowest)

Chemical composition palm oil
Palm oil and palm kernel oil is an order of fatty acids, esterified, and glycerol are still many lemaknya. Both in the high and full akan fatty acids, between 50% and 80% of each. Coconut oil name of oil palm has 16 carbon fatty acid of palmitic acid based on in coconut palm oil mostly contains lauric acid. Oil some amount of the oil palm grows naturally come to tocotrienol, part of the vitamin E. Palm oil in it containing a lot of vitamin K and magnesium. NAPALM name derived from naphthenic acid, palmitic acid and pyrotechnics or only way out of the naphtha and palm oil.

REFERENCES :
http://www.depperin.go.id/