Foreword
We begin on a controversial
issue: palm oil. Few bioeconomy feedstocks have caused as much debate, with
said debate centred firmly on palm oil’s impact on biodiversity in the parts of
the world where it is grown. Much has been made of the fact that oil palm is typically
associated with rainforest deforestation, and the associated threat to
biodiversity. However, a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) has introduced an alternative perspective. The report concludes that
banning palm oil would most likely increase the production of other oil crops
to meet demand for oil, displacing rather than halting any significant global
biodiversity losses caused by palm oil.
Part of the appeal of palm oil is the fact that its yield is so great
relative to the amount of crop area required. Other oil crops may require up to
nine times as much land to produce an equivalent oil yield. Thus, the IUCN
argues.........
Other News this Month Includes:
Policy
- EU enforces new waste recycling targets
- ISCC certificate fraud
Markets
- New partnership to boost EU market access to
mycelium products
- Biomass demand squeezes waste wood market
- AEBIOM rebrands to Bioenergy Europe
Research & Development
- New project to investigate marginal land for
growing industrial crops
- New enzyme shows promise for lignin
conversion
- IUCN report finds Palm Oil to be a lesser
evil regarding biodiversity
- Reports into global impact of agricultural
biotechnology
- Field trials confirm algae more productive
in polyculture
Wood & Crop
- World's largest Dissolving Wood Pulp plant
announced
- Bush encroachment provides ample Namibian
biomass resource
- Use of waste wood within UK increases
- Florida lignin plant opened
- Japanese and Korean contracts for Canadian
pellets
Other Feedstocks
- Plastic bags still viable for food waste
recycling
- Report into UK waste production and use
- Companies turning food waste into useful
fibres
- Statistics on Scottish waste
- Leaf secures feedstock for Malaysian
biorefinery
- Lottery funding for UK waste food charity
Events
Feedstock Prices