Oil palm emissions
A project, conducted for Greenpeace NZ, on the GHG emissions associated with oil palm plantations and palm kernel expeller going into NZ dairy production indicates that those emissions can be very variable depending on the land type where plantations are established. Very large emissions (49 - 96 t CO2-e ha-1 y-1) may be associated with plantations established at the expense of rain forest on deep peat domes, principally due to depletion of peat following drainage. At the other extreme, establishment of plantations at the expense of Imperata sp. grassland (a type of degraded ecosystem) present a carbon sequestration opportunity. See the report The carbon cost of palm kernel expeller for more detail.
Copyright Carlton Consultancy © 2009 - 2012