Can Palm Oil be Net-Zero? Experts Weigh In
- It’s common knowledge that all human activities contribute towards climate change.
- The 2022 IPCC report has laid out the urgent pathways to reduce the catastrophic impacts on humans.
- Unfortunately the Dire warning on climate change ‘is being ignored’ amid war and economic turmoil
Undeterred by the slow adaption of climate change measures by multinational companies, the Malaysian palm oil industry led by The Malaysian Oil Scientists’ and Technologists’ Association (MOSTA) is pushing a net zero goal which has the potential to pave the way for all agricultural commodities.
The obvious question for the Malaysian palm oil industry is, does the knowledge exist to produce net-zero palm oil?
The Malaysian Oil Scientists’ and Technologists’ Association (MOSTA) organized a webinar recently that called together experts to look into the possibility of net-zero palm oil. In his report on the webinar, the moderator Dr Jaybalan Tamahrajah wrote the following.
Possible to even reach net negative carbon targets, Oil Palm experts say
The importance of sustainability has been a priority for decades in the oil palm industry, with the recent COP26 further pressing the move towards even more sustainable methods, possibly achieving net negative emissions.
MOSTA organized a Climate Change webinar in April with experts Dr. Maria Vincenza Chiriacó of the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate (CMCC), Dr. Vijaya Subramaniam from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Mr Amir Afham Abdullah representing the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and Mr. Rasyid Redza and Ir Dr Shiraz Aris from Sime Darby.
The Webinar provided methods of mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) towards net carbon zero, a target Malaysia has committed to achieve by 2050. The event was moderated by Dr. Jaybalan Tamahrajah of KLK Oleomas.
The Malaysian Oil Scientists’ and Technologists’ Association (MOSTA), with Academician Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Augustine Ong Soon Hock as its President, aims to prove the feasibility of a net-zero emissions palm oil production system by providing reliable data and prove through science, technology and economy that it is sustainable.
The discussion revolved around the current situation in Oil Palm Plantations and Palm Oil Mills, contributing to reduction in GHG emissions with good agricultural practices and a circular approach of biomass re-use for energy generation and value addition being main contributors to emission savings. Net negative emission of CPO production is possible, namely through accounting for sequestration and the abundant biomass from plantations.
Corporate giants following the guidelines of the RSPO and pathways laid out by MPOB are rewarded with low GHG emissions results relative to their CPO production. Apart from the use of biomass and Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)-based biogas for energy and reducing water footprint in a bio-circular economic approach, the implementation of Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) helps to realize low GHG emissions rapidly and consistently.
CMCC findings based on unbiased and sound literature values showed that sustainable palm oil, produced by means of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP), No Deforestation and avoiding Land Use Change (LUC), achieved the lowest GHG emissions compared to other main vegetable oils.
These are made possible with certification bodies such as the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) by monitoring practices of Oil Palm companies. Rigorous calculation methods with verified data are used as default values to report Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. This is done via an application provided by the RSPO to its members with possibility of usage at the convenience of a mobile phone. Palm Oil Mills and Oil Palm Plantations claiming to perform better are subjected to an RSPO-audit for verification, demonstrating a high quality of the RSPO standards.
Ir. Qua Kiat Seng, Senior Lecturer at Monash University Malaysia and Council Member of MOSTA, who brought together the experts for this webinar said, “It is very encouraging to see that many palm oil industry players are measuring their GHG emissions. A leading plantation house is reporting 1.04 tCO2eq/tonne CPO with many initiatives in the pipeline as it strives to achieve net zero carbon emissions.”
The palm oil industry is well on the way to achieving net zero carbon emissions or even better and the leading industry players are charting the way for the rest of the industry to follow. There is a lot of hard work and challenges ahead but this is nothing new to the Malaysian palm oil industry which has shown its resiliency.
End Dr Jaybalan Tamahrajah statement.
The findings of Dr. Maria Vincenza Chiriacó of the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate (CMCC) established targets for the oil palm industry experts.
Her studies into the GHG emissions of global vegetable oils including soy, rapeseed, sunflower and palm oil showed that while palm oil has the second highest GHG emissions in CO2 emissions per hectare, the total sum per ton of palm oil, when land use and emissions per unit of product are factored in, is the lowest among the four main global vegetable oil crops.
This would place palm oil at a favorable starting point for net-zero ambitions. The presentations by other panelists then went into detail on the exact measures being implemented to move closer to net zero.
The webinar was exceptional in content quality as it brought together the findings of a climate scientist alongside with official industry representation from the MPOB. The key takeaway from the MOSTA webinar is that the palm oil industry in Malaysia, can achieve net zero. What made it truly exciting was the reports from the RSPO and Sime Darby that shared actual practices in the industry, not simply pledges and plans.
The ground actions by Sime Darby to reduce emissions qualifies it to meet GHG reductions as laid out by Deloitte in the 3 scopes of categorizing carbon emissions. These being:
Scope 1 — This one covers the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions that a company makes directly — for example while running its boilers and vehicles.
Scope 2 — These are the emissions it makes indirectly – like when the electricity or energy it buys for heating and cooling buildings, is being produced on its behalf.
Scope 3 — Now here’s where it gets tricky. In this category go all the emissions associated, not with the company itself, but that the organisation is indirectly responsible for, up and down its value chain. For example, from buying products from its suppliers, and from its products when customers use them. Emissions-wise, Scope 3 is nearly always the big one.
What should be of key interest to palm oil buyers is Scope 3. Some of the biggest multinational companies have made grand pledges towards fighting climate change only to be exposed as being clueless as to what is needed. A net-zero palm oil supply meets the needs of buyers in qualifying the net-zero status of their palm oil supply.
CSPO Watch thanks Dr Jaybalan Tamahrajah for his statement.
CSPO Watch thanks MOSTA for sharing the contents of the webinar.
Downloadable Files
Dr. Maria Vincenza Chiriacó Presentation
Dr. Vijaya Subramaniam Presentation
Mr Amir Afham Abdullah Presentation
Ir Dr Shiraz Aris Presentation
Mr. Rasyid Redza Presentation
To view the webinar, please click here.
Published April 2022. CSPO Watch
The importance of sustainability has been a priority for decades in the oil palm industry, with the recent COP26 further pressing the move towards even more sustainable methods, possibly achieving net negative emissions.
MOSTA organized a Climate Change webinar in April with experts Dr. Maria Vincenza Chiriacó of the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate (CMCC), Dr. Vijaya Subramaniam from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Mr Amir Afham Abdullah representing the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and Mr. Rasyid Redza and Ir Dr Shiraz Aris from Sime Darby.
The Webinar provided methods of mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) towards net carbon zero, a target Malaysia has committed to achieve by 2050. The event was moderated by Dr. Jaybalan Tamahrajah of KLK Oleomas.
The Malaysian Oil Scientists’ and Technologists’ Association (MOSTA), with Academician Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Augustine Ong Soon Hock as its President, aims to prove the feasibility of a net-zero emissions palm oil production system by providing reliable data and prove through science, technology and economy that it is sustainable.
The discussion revolved around the current situation in Oil Palm Plantations and Palm Oil Mills, contributing to reduction in GHG emissions with good agricultural practices and a circular approach of biomass re-use for energy generation and value addition being main contributors to emission savings. Net negative emission of CPO production is possible, namely through accounting for sequestration and the abundant biomass from plantations.
Corporate giants following the guidelines of the RSPO and pathways laid out by MPOB are rewarded with low GHG emissions results relative to their CPO production. Apart from the use of biomass and Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)-based biogas for energy and reducing water footprint in a bio-circular economic approach, the implementation of Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) helps to realize low GHG emissions rapidly and consistently.
CMCC findings based on unbiased and sound literature values showed that sustainable palm oil, produced by means of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP), No Deforestation and avoiding Land Use Change (LUC), achieved the lowest GHG emissions compared to other main vegetable oils.
These are made possible with certification bodies such as the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) by monitoring practices of Oil Palm companies. Rigorous calculation methods with verified data are used as default values to report Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. This is done via an application provided by the RSPO to its members with possibility of usage at the convenience of a mobile phone. Palm Oil Mills and Oil Palm Plantations claiming to perform better are subjected to an RSPO-audit for verification, demonstrating a high quality of the RSPO standards.
Ir. Qua Kiat Seng, Senior Lecturer at Monash University Malaysia and Council Member of MOSTA, who brought together the experts for this webinar said, “It is very encouraging to see that many palm oil industry players are measuring their GHG emissions. A leading plantation house is reporting 1.04 tCO2eq/tonne CPO with many initiatives in the pipeline as it strives to achieve net zero carbon emissions.”
The palm oil industry is well on the way to achieving net zero carbon emissions or even better and the leading industry players are charting the way for the rest of the industry to follow. There is a lot of hard work and challenges ahead but this is nothing new to the Malaysian palm oil industry which has shown its resiliency.
End Dr Jaybalan Tamahrajah statement.
The findings of Dr. Maria Vincenza Chiriacó of the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate (CMCC) established targets for the oil palm industry experts.
Her studies into the GHG emissions of global vegetable oils including soy, rapeseed, sunflower and palm oil showed that while palm oil has the second highest GHG emissions in CO2 emissions per hectare, the total sum per ton of palm oil, when land use and emissions per unit of product are factored in, is the lowest among the four main global vegetable oil crops.
This would place palm oil at a favorable starting point for net-zero ambitions. The presentations by other panelists then went into detail on the exact measures being implemented to move closer to net zero.
- The Malaysian Palm Oil Board presented a report on GHG reduction practices in the Malaysian palm oil industry by converting plantation wastes into wealth in line with a circular economy approach.
- The RSPO presented its PalmGHG Calculator which the certification body uses to estimate net Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from palm oil production by quantifying the major sources of GHG emissions and carbon sequestration at the estates and mill.
- The webinar was rounded off with two reports from Sime Darby Plantations that went into great detail on the company’s real time efforts towards the reduction of emissions from plantations and mills.
The webinar was exceptional in content quality as it brought together the findings of a climate scientist alongside with official industry representation from the MPOB. The key takeaway from the MOSTA webinar is that the palm oil industry in Malaysia, can achieve net zero. What made it truly exciting was the reports from the RSPO and Sime Darby that shared actual practices in the industry, not simply pledges and plans.
The ground actions by Sime Darby to reduce emissions qualifies it to meet GHG reductions as laid out by Deloitte in the 3 scopes of categorizing carbon emissions. These being:
Scope 1 — This one covers the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions that a company makes directly — for example while running its boilers and vehicles.
Scope 2 — These are the emissions it makes indirectly – like when the electricity or energy it buys for heating and cooling buildings, is being produced on its behalf.
Scope 3 — Now here’s where it gets tricky. In this category go all the emissions associated, not with the company itself, but that the organisation is indirectly responsible for, up and down its value chain. For example, from buying products from its suppliers, and from its products when customers use them. Emissions-wise, Scope 3 is nearly always the big one.
What should be of key interest to palm oil buyers is Scope 3. Some of the biggest multinational companies have made grand pledges towards fighting climate change only to be exposed as being clueless as to what is needed. A net-zero palm oil supply meets the needs of buyers in qualifying the net-zero status of their palm oil supply.
CSPO Watch thanks Dr Jaybalan Tamahrajah for his statement.
CSPO Watch thanks MOSTA for sharing the contents of the webinar.
Downloadable Files
Dr. Maria Vincenza Chiriacó Presentation
Dr. Vijaya Subramaniam Presentation
Mr Amir Afham Abdullah Presentation
Ir Dr Shiraz Aris Presentation
Mr. Rasyid Redza Presentation
To view the webinar, please click here.
Published April 2022. CSPO Watch