Palm oil has become a major cash cow for multiple companies. This is because of how useful it is. Right now it is used in a wide variety of products. Recently though, what has really driven palm oil production is its use in bio-fuels. However, because of the increased demand for palm oil, large tracts of land in several developing countries have been deforested. This is to pave the way for the planting of palm oil plantations. This is usually in Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesia alone has 6 million hectares of palm oil plantations – and this area is still exploding.
The rate of deforestation is staggering and this has caused some concern in many quarters. The EU announced last year that they would like to put a ban on subsidies on palm oil as part of bio-fuel. It will still take some time to take effect though. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Palm oil is used in a wide array of products. It is a vegetable oil and it provides an excellent base for many industries to use. Palm oils is actually the most heavily-used vegetable oil in the world. This is mostly because of the large amount of production and how cheap it is. This is why you’ll find palm oil in a wealth of products. This ranges from food to cosmetics. 50% of the products on store shelves actually has palm oil in it.
If you want to do your part in keeping the Earth safe, then being aware of what products to buy is essential. Fortunately, there are substitutes for palm oil available on the market. This includes soybean, rapeseed, and coconut oil. These oils are just as good and match palm oil in many features. However, they are a bit more expensive. The additional price is worth it to preserve the forests of the future.
http://www.worldagroforestry.org/news/there-alternative-palm-oil