Palm oil

Palm oil is a reddish vegetable oil.

It comes from the pulp of the African oil palm fruit. This oil is found in many things we use every day. It helps food stay smooth and tasty. Many companies use it to make snacks and baked goods.

It is also a key part of many beauty products. About 70% of personal care items like soap and lotion use it. It even works as a fuel for cars and trucks.

Making palm oil involves many different steps. Some people make it in small, local ways. This is called artisanal production. They use the fruit to make food or handicrafts. In big factories, the oil is used for many things. It can be turned into biodiesel through a process called transesterification. This creates a fuel called methyl ester.

You can even turn used cooking oil into fuel. This is done by treating the oil with chemicals. This makes a fuel similar to the petroleum we use now.

Humans have used oil palms for a very long time. People used them as far back as 5,000 years ago. Archaeologists even found palm oil in a tomb from 3,000 BCE.

In West and Central Africa, it has always been a common cooking oil. Later, European merchants bought it to use in Europe. During the Industrial Revolution, British traders used it to grease machines. It also helped create famous soap brands like Sunlight. By 1870, it was a major export for some African countries. This history shows how much the world relies on this oil.

Today, a few countries produce most of the world's supply. Indonesia is the biggest producer of all. In 2022, Indonesia produced 60% of the global supply.

Malaysia, Thailand, and Nigeria are also very large producers. Palm oil is very efficient to grow. It produces much more oil per hectare than soy or sunflower. In 2016, palm farms produced about 4.17 metric tons of oil per hectare. This high yield is why so many people grow it.

However, growing palm oil brings many hard jobs and concerns. Large farms often clear forests to make space for trees.

This can cause animals to lose their homes. For example, the Sumatran orangutan is now critically endangered because of this. There are also concerns about how workers are treated. Some people report unfair land rights or unsafe work.

In 2017, there were over 650 land disputes in Indonesia. People are working hard to find ways to grow oil more safely. They want to protect both the forests and the people.