A Review of Southeast Asian Oil Palm and Its CO2 Fluxes

Sustainability

Fatimah Ahamad¹  MohdSobri Takriff²  MohdTalib Latif³  Norfazrin Mohd Hanif³  Royston Uning³  Liew Juneng³  MohdShahrul Mohd Nadzir³  KhairulNizam Abdul Maulud⁴  NorFitrah Syazwani Said⁴  WanShafrina Wan Mohd Jaafar⁴  Murnira Othman⁵ 

[1] Centre for Tropical Climate Change System, Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia;Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia;Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia;Earth Observation Centre, Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia;Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia;

关键词: palm oil;    tropical area;    carbon emission;    CO₂;    flux;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su12125077

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Palm oil production is a key industry in tropical regions, driven by the demand for affordable vegetable oil. Palm oil production has been increasing by 9% every year, mostly due to expanding biofuel markets. However, the oil palm industry has been associated with key environmental issues, such as deforestation, peatland exploitation and biomass burning that release carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere, leading to climate change. This review therefore aims to discuss the characteristics of oil palm plantations and their impacts, especially CO₂ emissions in the Southeast Asian region. The tropical climate and soil in Southeast Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, are very suitable for growing oil palm trees. However, due to the scarcity of available plantation areas deforestation occurs, especially in peat swamp areas. Total carbon losses from both biomass and peat due to the conversion of tropical virgin peat swamp forest into oil palm plantations are estimated to be around 427.2 ± 90.7 t C ha⁻¹ and 17.1 ± 3.6 t C ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively. Even though measured CO₂ fluxes have shown that overall, oil palm plantation CO₂ emissions are about one to two times higher than other major crops, the ability of oil palms to absorb CO₂ (a net of 64 tons of CO₂ per hectare each year) and produce around 18 tons of oxygen per hectare per year is one of the main advantages of this crop. Since the oil palm industry plays a crucial role in the socio-economic development of Southeast Asian countries, sustainable and environmentally friendly practices would provide economic benefits while minimizing environmental impacts. A comprehensive review of all existing oil plantation procedures is needed to ensure that this high yielding crop has highly competitive environmental benefits.

【 授权许可】

Unknown