Palm Oil Frenzy Threatens to Wipe out Orangutans

It is the population that fuels the hunger for fuel. No matter where they settle, the environment will suffer. And we will lose incredible animals.

Hadn't heard of palm oil being used for fuel. Seems like the way to go is methods which dont involve growing crops, ie: solar/ solar thermal, wave power, new geothermal etc. 

I find it so hard to understand why there isn't some regulation authority - such as the UN, making an effort to explain that palm oil fuel is a short-lived alternative to oil! These 'speculators' have absolutely no interest in the fact that their investment is not sustainable. Why isn't the Indonesian government trying to plan ahead, by protecting their irreplaceable forests? Sadly, this is another indication of corrupt government.

Thanks Blue Crush for this piece and the alert on status of the Orangutans in Indonesia.  It's the western countries' demand for palm oil that drives the Indonesians to strip their own forest, not so different from the Brazilian stripping its own forest for lumber demands.  

Thanks for this  important story.  Something needs to be done at once.

Palm oil will be supplanted by algae-based alternatives, such as Valcent Technology's five story warehouse where algae are grown in tubes, exposed to sunlight.

The result is something like 34,000 gallons of bio-fuel per acre, way ahead of palm oil.
Valcent claims that using one-tenth of the land of New Mexico, they could supply all vehicles in the US with bio-diesel.

The towers were originally designed to grow veggies by moving the plants to face the sun, optimizing growth but using only 5% of the water and no herbicides or pesticides. They have already sold some units to one of the Western provinces of Canada.

I am reasonably optimistic about this and some other technology coming on-line soon such as a way to print solar circuits directly on paper, cheaply, I add.

So, whether global warming is right or wrong, we can save the environment from all that drilling and especially from all that coal mining and the mercury that spills into the atmosphere when it is burnt.

25% of the mercury in the water here in the Northwest is from Chinese coal-fired plants.

Humanities extremes ad lack of wisdom and ability to keep balance and sound management will destroy humanity it self.

Brilliant, Roy C! 

I didn't know about this amazing technology. 

But one thing I do know, for sure, is that we will continue to be SURPRISED by inspired geniuses who, again and again, come up with innovative developments for the future - in all areas of life! 

Definitely worth looking out for those innovators, and definitely worth making all efforts to overcome corruption and fraud - and the plain old fashioned avarice and ignorant self-interest of speculators!

"Humanity's extremes and lack of wisdom and ability to keep balance and sound management will destroy humanity itself."

Paschen, are you sure? Are you sure that you aren't just experiencing something akin to what  an old prophet at the walls of Jerusalem warning the Jews to toe the line or else God will come down and smite them experienced?

Are you sure that your own inner dissatisfaction doesn't unconsciously prompt this?

I can tell you that the technological solutions are already available, and that gives me hope. There are no more major obstacles. The major obstacle is more like ignorance and a kind of addiction to states of mind that don't serve the wisdom you refer to.

I have a very good science education, but my real interests lie in Jungian psychology, Campbell, Gurdjieff and Castaneda.. I see us an undergoing more tests, and I see us passing them, even if it means getting called back into to repeat or do extra work or even summer school.

Adult female Orangutan, Bukit Lawang, Sumatra, Indonessia

ReveWorks has contributed a photo to this story.

Orangutan aren't handsome looking, but when I watched them swinging from the treetops in Danum Valley in Sabah, the feelings were indescribable. It made me feel we could swap places: I could be an animal and they, human.

The way to save them, I think, is to go and see them yourself. See the rainforests in Borneo before they are thinned out. Thousands of hectares of virgin jungle are still waiting to be explored. I enjoyed very much my hikes in Danum, Maliau and Tabin. I loved the trees and the unique vegetation. They are just remarkable. 

But I also saw the threats of mining exploration by an Australian company in one of my trips. I felt that quite often, when western countries protest development, we aren't completely unhypocritical.

Once governments realise forests are more valuable as hot tourist spots, they may think less about clearing them for palm oil.

I went to Bukit Lawang 80km north of Medan in Sumatra http://www.dharssi.org.uk/travel/Indonesia/bukitlawang.html. The reason why I chose this destination for my honeymoon was to see this wonderful place , The Orang Utan Rehabilitation and Feeding Centre where rescued orangutans are slowly released back into the jungle, alas quite a few do not make it. The Centre does a fantastic job treating sick and ailing Orang Utans and preparing them for release back into the wild. I had the good fortune to come quite close to some of the animals (almost humans really) and was touched by their beauty and intelligence. Our guide Dama has dedicated his whole life to the plight of these creatures and enlightened us with amazing and sad stories about them. Preservation of the rainforest is so important for the survival of this wonderful species and for our environment. The foundation's Ser Indra goal is to keep, and for the future, grow the rainforest so it can bring balance into the disturbed environment.
by Daniela White

Daniela White Images has contributed a photo to this story.

My photo (link below) is of a Semi-Wild Orangutan in the Gunung Leuser National Park near the village of Bukit Lawang. They're doing fantastic things there in their attempts to reintroduce Orangutans into the rainforest and helping them to depend less on humans and fend for themselves once again. Beautiful place to visit as well...it really is another world.

trcalcutt1 has contributed a photo to this story.

RoyC, I do work in the field and know the solutions are there and I do not care much for any God or Gods nor prophets. I am a Chemist and work with environmental problem in Agriculture and water ways. 

I am no longer a dreamer, rather pragmatic and see what Human do each and every day, Sorry 30 years ago I may have believed you. Today I know better. 

It is not your education nor mine that matters at all, it is human nature for the most part and it greed. If logic and science and common sense would matter then we would not have those things happening in the first place, no would we have wars any longer or hunger.

But Science and logic do not matter at all. I used to preach what you are preaching. 

You are the one preaching and you might learn what projection was. It is the accusation against another that most completely embodies the old aphorism, "the pot calling the kettle black",