Review of peat surface greenhouse gas emissions from oil palm plantations in Southeast Asia
Growth in palm oil production has been a key component of meeting growing global demand for vegetable oil, including for biodiesel, over recent decades. This growth has been accompanied by mounting concern over the impact of the oil palm business on tropical forests and peat swamp forests. Tropical peatland is one of Earth’s most efficient carbon sinks. Development of tropical peatland for agriculture and plantations reduces or, in most cases, removes the carbon sink capacity of the peatland system, with large carbon losses arising particularly from enhanced aerobic peat decomposition and the loss of any future carbon sequestration by the native peat swamp forest vegetation.
The authors conclude that a value of 86 Mg CO2-eq ha-1 yr-1 (annualized over 50 years) represents the most robust currently available empirical estimate of peat CO2 emissions from OP and pulpwood plantations. For a shorter annualization, the emissions would be higher.
