WUR study shows oil palm is the most land-efficient crop despite higher emissions

Palm oil, one of the world’s most traded vegetable oils, has been a controversial food ingredient due to its links with deforestation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, a new study by Wageningen University & Research (WUR) reveals that it significantly outperforms both soybean and rapeseed oils across critical sustainability metrics such as efficiency and economic impact.

The researchers compared the contributions of palm oil in Indonesia, soybean oil in Brazil, and rapeseed oil in Germany until 2030/2040 for achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The findings highlight that palm oil remains the most land-efficient crop, with more than double the yield of soybean and rapeseed under ambitious 2040 scenarios. However, it leads to higher GHG emissions due to peatland cultivation and methane emissions from processing waste.

In contrast, rapeseed is the lowest-emitting option, while soybean shows the largest potential for yield improvement by 2040 under ambitious sustainability measures.

Food Ingredients First speaks with the study’s authors, Dr. Ir. H. Wolter Elbersen, senior researcher biomass supply and sustainable production chains, and Maja Slingerland, associate professor, Plant Production Systems at WUR, to understand how the study challenges conventional views on palm oil’s sustainability.

“The results show that oil palm is a very productive crop. This implies that replacing palm oil by another vegetable oil crop will likely require more land,” says Elbersen. “It also shows the importance of making good use of all products these crops produce.” 

Oil palm is a highly productive crop and replacing it would likely require more land, says Elbersen.Under the “very ambitious” improvement scenarios projected to 2040, oil palm leads by producing 4.8 metric tons of crude oil per hectare compared to 3.1 metric tons for soybean and 2.6 metric tons for rapeseed.

He says that besides conducting a detailed analysis of the current GHG performance of palm oil in Indonesia and the other two crops in Brazil and Germany, the research also included future scenarios “unlike other studies.”

“The study also made a thorough comparison of land use efficiency, in which all products that the crops produce are considered. The land use for oil production should also take into account that co-products and by-products are also used.” The land use is allocated on the basis of economic value.

Understanding sustainability dimensions

Amid an increased global focus on sustainable palm oil alternatives focused on environmental benefits, Slingerland believes sustainability has “at least three” dimensions: environmental, social, and economic. 

“We show that social and economic sustainability in terms of employment provision and income is very positive for oil palm, which is often forgotten by people only looking at the environment.”

“In Indonesia, people need small amounts of land cultivated with oil palm to earn a decent income. And the production of oil palm provides jobs for many smallholders and workers because there is little mechanization possible,” she adds. 

Indonesian oil palm farmers need less than 0.5 hectares to earn minimum wage, compared to 5-7 hectares for Brazilian soybean and 15 hectares for German rapeseed farmers, notes the study.

The economic impact is significant: palm oil contributes 2.3% to Indonesia’s GDP with an export value of US$27.3 billion, compared to only 0.12% from soybean oil in Brazil (US$2.06 billion) and 0.04% from rapeseed oil in Germany (US$1.77 billion).

Oil palm supports significant employment in Indonesia, where smallholders need less than 0.5 hectares of land to earn a decent income.

Closing the “fat gap”

The report, commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and published in Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, highlights that palm oil plays a significant role in food security, particularly in Indonesia, where it is an affordable source of cooking oil for people with low incomes. This is especially important in countries with low-energy diets, as palm oil helps close what the researchers call the “fat gap.”

“An FAO study shows that in low-income countries, people’s diets have a fat gap. The study also shows the importance of vegetable oil in filling that gap,” underscores Slingerland. 

“These countries are known to buy palm oil because it is the cheapest. Even in Indonesia itself, coconut oil has, for instance, largely been replaced by palm oil because it is cheaper and there is an abundant supply.” 

Leveraging palm oil efficiency

Slingerland suggests the food industry can drive palm oil efficiency by requiring specific “GHG performance” from suppliers, incentivizing producers to reduce emissions.

“In the case of oil palm, the key aspects are no deforestation, no peat, and capture of methane from wastewater ponds. The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will not allow any import anymore of commodities such as palm oil or soybean (oil) into Europe when the crop has been cultivated on recently deforested land (2020 cut-off date).”

Social and economic benefits of oil palm are often overlooked in environmental discussions, says Slingerland.Thus, deforestation is not only tackled with local policies in Indonesia and Brazil, but also demanded by buyers, she adds.

Elbersen adds that sustainable palm oil requires investments, but reducing GHG emissions can generate GHG credits, helping to offset costs.

“No deforestation or no peat is not necessarily more costly, but checking these requirements may incur costs.” The EUDR restriction on soybean and palm oil imports will lead to “additional costs for control,” but once control systems are in place, the monitoring cost will be minimal, he predicts. 

Reducing palm oil’s GHG emissions

While peatland cultivation and palm oil mill effluent remain challenges, improvements like methane capture and phasing out peatland use could reduce palm oil’s GHG emissions to 1.0-1.1 tons CO2-equivalent per ton by 2040. This is comparable to or better than soybean (1.1) and rapeseed (1.4-1.6), notes the study.

Elbersen suggests buying carbon credits generated by reducing GHG emissions in palm oil and giving “the co-products and residues a market” to address palm oil’s environmental concerns.

Slingerland stresses the importance of upgrading certification schemes to include “no peat, no deforestation, and methane capture,” and adding value to by-products to increase land use efficiency further.

Calls for action

The research shows that properly managed palm oil outperforms temperate oil crops in sustainability across multiple dimensions.

“The project has been finalized. Implementation of the innovations that deliver lower impacts is a logical next step — the downstream industry can play a role here,” Elbersen tells us.

“As advisers, we hope to convince and support industries to take the necessary steps, not only in Indonesia, but also in other oil palm-growing countries.”