25 orangutans die every day and millions of hectares of forest have already disappeared due to deforestation for palm oil, a product used in biofuels across Europe. With the #NotInMyTank campaign, Legambiente stands with the forests and the animals.
From food to biofuels, palm oil now knows no boundaries. While in recent years the use of this vegetable oil in food has been declining, thanks in part to pressure from increasingly informed and united consumers pushing for it to be removed from ingredients lists, the amount used for biodiesel has quadrupled, and there are still many citizens unaware that palm oil is also used in engines.
According to an Ipsos survey, 82 per cent of Europeans are unaware of this practice; in Italy the figure rises to 87 per cent. Yet once informed, 75 per cent of citizens say they are opposed to a practice that endangers forests and biodiversity. In recent years, in order to satisfy Europe's appetite for palm oil, millions of hectares of rainforest have been destroyed to make way for the expansion of oil palm plantations.
Read also: The plight of Borneo's orangutans: over 100,000 individuals lost in 16 years
Today, alongside the forests, unique animal species are also at risk — among them the orangutans that live in the forests of Borneo, between Malaysia and Indonesia. Every day, as a result of palm oil deforestation, as many as 25 of them die. These primates no longer have enough to eat and, when they approach the palm fruits, they are killed.
For this reason, Legambiente, together with a coalition of environmental organisations — from Belgium (Fédération Inter-Environnement Wallonie), Brussels (Trasporti e ambiente), France (Amis de la Terre and Canopeé), Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe and Nabu), Italy (Legambiente), Portugal (Zero), Spain (Ecologistas en Acción), Sweden (Società svedese per la conservazione della natura), and the Netherlands (Milieudefensie / Friends of the Earth Paesi Bassi) — has launched the European campaign NotInMyTank, Basta all'olio di palma nei motori, whose symbol is precisely the orangutan.
Read also: Norway to ban palm oil biofuels from 2020 to protect orangutans
The aim is to shine a spotlight on palm oil used in biofuels, to inform and raise awareness among citizens and invite them to sign the petition calling on the European Commission — which is due to issue a ruling on 1 February — to put an end to palm oil in engines and to the subsidies earmarked for this practice. The associations amplified this message on 21 January, the day of the major European mobilisation, with sit-ins organised from Rome with the #SavePongo initiative, to Brussels, from Prague to Paris, via Lisbon, Madrid and Berlin.
Palm oil-based biodiesel is certainly far from sustainable or green, given that it contributes, indirectly, to deforestation and to the endangerment of wildlife. The European environmental network Transport&Environment has published research on the life cycle of palm oil: from the disappearance of the forest to transport and processing, every litre of palm oil used as fuel produces CO2 emissions three times higher than those of petroleum.
But are there virtuous biofuels that can replace fossil-based ones? Yes. All those derived from waste — even from materials that can be harmful if left in the environment. Some examples? Used cooking oils, which are polluting if they end up in waterways: the Conoe consortium already recovers 72,000 tonnes of them (2017) across Italy, but the potential recovery stands at 260,000 tonnes. Or biomethane recoverable from organic waste (urban and agro-industrial): the estimated recoverable amount equals 8–10 billion cubic metres of renewable methane, three times what would be needed for all the natural gas vehicles currently on the road in Italy. Or again, ethanol (for petrol engines): Italian distilleries already produce 100,000 tonnes of it today from winemaking residues. But what is certain is that in the future we will get around with fewer cars and more electric vehicles.
