Plant

Oil palm

Elaeis guineensis

Also known as: Elaeis guineensis, African oil palm

A large palm native to West Africa, producing the world's most-traded vegetable oil — palm oil — and one of the most economically and ecologically consequential agricultural commodities of the 21st century. A single hectare of oil palm produces ~4–8 times more oil per year than soybean, sunflower, rapeseed, or any other major oilseed crop, which is why the species has become the global default vegetable-oil source. The same productivity has driven catastrophic deforestation across Indonesia, Malaysia, and parts of Africa — most of the global palm oil supply now comes from former tropical rainforest converted to monoculture plantations. The deforestation, biodiversity loss (including critical impact on orangutan, Sumatran tiger, and Bornean elephant populations), and carbon emissions from palm oil expansion are among the most-discussed environmental issues of the 21st century.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons — see source for license.

Scientific

Elaeis guineensis (family Arecaceae) is a large single-trunked palm native to the West and Central African rainforest belt. The species produces large clusters of small fruits at the trunk apex; each fruit contains an oil-rich fleshy outer layer (mesocarp) producing palm oil and an inner seed producing palm kernel oil — two different oils from the same fruit, with different fatty-acid profiles.

A single hectare of oil palm produces 4–8 tonnes of palm oil per year — a productivity that exceeds [[soybean|soybean]] (~0.4 tonnes/ha), [[sunflower|sunflower]] (~0.6 tonnes/ha), and rapeseed (~0.7 tonnes/ha) by an order of magnitude. The economic logic is what makes palm oil the global default vegetable-oil supply.

The related American oil palm (Elaeis oleifera) is less productive but more disease-resistant; modern industrial breeding produces E. guineensis × oleifera hybrids that combine the two species’ traits.

Economic and ecological

Palm oil is the world’s most-produced vegetable oil — appearing in an estimated 50% of packaged supermarket products including margarine, baked goods, instant noodles, ice cream, shampoo, soap, lipstick, biodiesel, and countless other commercial products. Indonesia produces ~57% of global supply; Malaysia produces ~25%. Together the two countries dominate the global trade.

The ecological consequences are catastrophic:

Deforestation — Indonesian and Malaysian rainforest converted to oil palm at ~1 million hectares per year through the 2000s–2010s
Carbon emissions — converting peat forest to oil palm releases enormous quantities of stored soil carbon (peat forests can release decades’ worth of stored carbon when drained for plantation)
Biodiversity loss — orangutan habitat (Sumatran and Bornean) has been reduced by ~80% in the past century, primarily by oil palm conversion; Sumatran tiger, Bornean pygmy elephant, and many other species are similarly threatened
Indigenous land conflict — many oil palm plantations are established on customary lands of Indigenous Dayak, Penan, and other Bornean peoples; legal recognition of customary land rights remains incomplete

RSPO and sustainability efforts

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), founded 2004, certifies palm oil produced without further deforestation. Approximately 20% of global supply is now RSPO-certified; the meaningful difference between RSPO and conventional oil is contested. Several major consumer-goods companies have made “deforestation-free palm oil” pledges with varying levels of follow-through.

Sources

Wikipedia — Elaeis
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

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