Greenpeace releases “Cooking the Climate” report; says Indonesia is third-worst greenhouse gas emitter due to deforestation for biofuel cultivation

Greenpeace released its “Cooking the Climate” report which concluded that forest clearance in Indonesia for palm plantations has made the country the third largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions, behind the United States and China. The study found that Indonesia is losing 2 percent of its tropical forest each year to deforestation, and that the resultant emissions more than offset the gain from switching from fossil fuels to biofuels. Indonesia has six million hectares of palm under cultivation and plans to expand this to 10 million hectares by 2015.

A Frost & Sullivan market report projects Asia-Pacific biodiesel consumption reaching 311 Mgy by the end of 2007. Leading markets are China, Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The study projects that demand will increase to 855 Mgy by 2013 as government renewable fuels mandates take hold, noting that New Zealand, the Philippines and South Korea have introduced biodiesel blending mandates.

Indonesia has announced plans to reserve 13.5 million acres for biofuels by 2010, of which 3.7 million acres will be palm oil plantations. Thailand has indicated that palm oil plantation will increase from 79,000 to 200,000 acres this year, with the potential to add another 1 million acres. The Philippines have reserved 1.1 million acres for palm oil plantation.

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