Producing biodiesel from imported palm oil: a higher carbon footprint compared to diesel and rapeseed

Article written by Sébastien Timsit and Alexandre Joly.

While farmers have just lifted the blockade of the La Mède biorefinery, media attention has focused on imported palm oil at the expense of domestically produced rapeseed. As a reminder¹, the biorefinery is expected to consume a maximum of 50% palm oil or 300,000 metric tons per year at full capacity, when the commitment to source French rapeseed amounts to 50,000 metric tons. Let’s set aside the economic issue, which has already been covered in the media, and shed some light on the climate relevance from this operation. This palm oil comes from Malaysia and Indonesia, countries known worldwide for replacement of their primary forest by plantations from palm trees to oil. This deforestation is not insignificant for the climate: it is a source of 10% of global emissions greenhouse gas emissions.² When deforestation is factored into the comparison, the conclusion is greenhouse gas emissions from greenhouse The difference between rapeseed, diesel, and palm oil is clear:

Palm oil produced in Malaysia and Indonesia, even when certified, contributes to the deforestation of local forests and the loss of biodiversity.³ Biodiesel produced in this way from Southeast Asian palm oil emits 5.4 kgCO2 per liter—three times more than its counterpart made from French rapeseed—and even about 70% more than diesel. As France is in the process of defining a net-zero emissions pathway, it is necessary to implement a national energy policy consistent.

Notes:

The greenhouse gas emissions from palm oil biodiesel per liter have a significant margin of uncertainty: they are presented here as 5.4 kgCO2 but can rise to 8 kgCO2 in the event of complete deforestation. Here, we have considered half of the effects associated with deforestation. In the absence of any deforestation and with environmentally friendly production, the emissions amount to approximately 3 kgCO2 per liter and are therefore equivalent to those of diesel.

Sources:

(1) Refinery Shutdowns: We Explain Why Palm Oil Is in the Crosshairs of Farmers (and Environmentalists), Franceinfo, June 11, 2018

(2) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

(3) The False Promise of Certification, Changing Markets, May 2018

(4) ADEME Carbon Database; “The Land Use Change Impact of Biofuels Consumed in the EU,” European Commission, August 2015; Carbone 4 analyses