Fargo International
Complementary Report on Palm Kernel Expeller (PKE)
Complementary Report on Palm Kernel Expeller (PKE)
What is the problem with palm kernel expeller?
Palm kernel expeller (officially PKE but commonly referred to as “palm kernel”) is an important economic product of the destructive palm oil industry. Indonesia is the biggest producer of palm oil in the world. Indonesia and Malaysia make up 87% of global palm oil production.
Indonesia’s forests have one of the fastest rates of deforestation in the world. In total, Indonesia has already lost 72 per cent of its large intact ancient forests. A major driver of this destruction is the expansion of palm plantations. Key products produced from palm plantations are palm oils (used mainly in foods, cosmetics and now biofuels) and palm kernel expeller (or PKE) used for animal feed and biomass electricity generation.
Forest destruction, fires lit for clearing land for palm and other plantations and the conversion of carbon rich peatlands are major contributors to climate change. Recent estimates rank Indonesia as the third biggest greenhouse gas emitter on the planet after China and the US due, mainly, to the destruction of forests growing on peatland soils. It is essential to stop deforestation as it contributes around 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions annually. The clearing and burning of Indonesia’s peatlands emits 4 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gases each year – which is huge considering they only make up 0.1 per cent of the worlds intact land mass.
According to data from carbon footprint research of the palm industry6 rainforest destruction of peat lands for palm plantations gives rise to 96,565 kg of greenhouse gas emissions per hectare per year of production. According to carbon footprint methodology by a Malaysian Government research agency for industrial development the production of one kg of PKE gives rise to a footprint of up to 18.2 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. Therefore the 2008 import into New Zealand of 1.1 million tonnes of PKE equated to a carbon footprint of up to 20,020,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
According to the NZ Government’s report on greenhouse gas emissions for 2006 report that all emissions from the dairy sector’s agricultural emissions was 14,022,000 tonnes of CO2-eq. The contribution of the footprint of PKE was not included in that total since the emissions occurred in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Therefore the carbon footprint of using PKE in the New Zealand dairy herd is equivalent or greater than the entire sector’s New Zealand emissions. This demonstrates that by using PKE Fonterra is risking a huge carbon footprint liability in its production of diary products.
Clearing forests for timber, palm and pulp plantations is the main cause of the decline of the orangutans and they are now at high risk of extinction in the wild. Forest destruction has also pushed many other species to the brink of extinction, there are probably less than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild today. The palm industry is having a devastating impact on indigenous peoples who rely on rainforests for their livelihood.
But isn’t palm kernel expeller just a waste by-product of palm oil?
Palm kernel expeller is not a waste by-product – it is a lucrative economic part of the destructive palm oil business. The three main end products of the palm plantation business are Crude Palm Oil (for food), Palm Kernel Oil (for cosmetics, etc) and Palm Kernel Expeller (used for animal feed and biomass electricity generation).
According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board “PKC [palm kernel cake/expeller] is also an important product from the oil palm industry that generate[s] substantial export earnings for Malaysia, which was approximately RM 337.9 million in 2003.”(141,240 million NZD)”
According to an experts group meeting report16 by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, a representative of the Malaysian Government’s palm industry research institute presented the make-up of palm products from the industry;
“Oil Palm Oil is a very productive crop, producing 90 million tons per year of Biomass. The products with economic value are: palm oil, palm kernel oil, and palm kernel cake. Remaining biomasses in the form of lignocellulose materials like fibres and shell are used in mills to generate steam and electricity.
” Palm kernel expeller represents 12-15% of the value of palm products and its trade price has increased 128% in the last 4 years, a rate double that of palm oils.
Therefore palm kernel expeller is an important part of an industry that causes tropical rainforest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia, threatens critically endangered species like orang-utan, impacts indigenous people in these forests and gives rise to massive greenhouse gas emissions. Traders of palm kernel expeller have the same responsibilities as palm oil importers – they are both profiting from the environmental destruction being wrought in Indonesia and Malaysia. The true wastes arising from the palm oil industry are Palm Kernel Shells (PKS), Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) and Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME).
