Palm oil: Could a lab-made alternative save our rainforests?

Rainforest destruction in Indonesia is reducing the natural habitat of the orangutan

Scientists are making an alternative to palm oil which they hope could help endangered species like the orangutan, pygmy elephant and Sumatran rhino.

C16 Biosciences is a laboratory in New York, and its scientists have been busy creating a synthetic alternative to palm oil - that means it's made from non-natural things - and it doesn't involve burning or clearing any rainforest land.

Palm oil is in lots of the things we buy, like shampoo, soap, toothpaste and lipstick, as well as food products such as some breads, crisps, biscuits, margarine, ice cream and chocolate.

"Over the last 30 years, half (50%) of palm oil plantation growth has come at the hands of deforestation of tropical forest and peatland," said Shara Ticku, founder of C16 Biosciences.

"That is really the core of the problem we're trying to solve."

C16 Biosciences is not the only organisation looking to come up with an alternative.

Researchers at the UK's University of Bath and a California-based company called Kiverdi are also looking into alternatives.

What is palm oil, and why is it a problem?

Palm oil comes from the fruit of the African oil palm tree and is mostly grown in Malaysia and Indonesia. It is a type of vegetable oil, like sunflower or rapeseed oil.

It's cheap to make, has a smooth and creamy texture, doesn't smell of anything, and can help things stay fresher for longer, making it a useful ingredient in many products.

But the way some palm oil is made, is causing serious damage to the environment.

One of the biggest problems is deforestation. If the plantations where palm fruit is grown aren't sustainable, then some farmers will clear the tropical rainforests around them to make more land for planting.

This can have a big impact on local communities and wildlife, for example orangutans, who call the forests their home.

Scientists think that the worldwide use of palm oil will rise to between 264 and 447 million tonnes by 2050. So an alternative lab-made palm oil may help.

Shara Ticku said: "If we can get enough people to change then there is no longer any justified reason for burning forest to produce this vegetable oil, and that is a success."

But price may be an issue with alternatives.

"The real problem is cost, because natural palm oil is extremely cheap, and that's what a synthetic alternative is competing against," said Professor Chuck from Bath University.

How to spot palm oil

It can be tricky to spot palm oil in the ingredients list for some products

Palm oil can be tricky to spot in things, as it can be called a different name in the ingredients list on products.

According to the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) - an environmental charity - alternative names for palm oil and its by-products include:

(This is not a complete list - there are many other names for palm oil.)

The UK Government recently announced it was bringing in new laws as part of an Environment Bill, which help stop people in the UK from unknowingly buying products which have come from rainforests that have been illegally chopped down.

Is all palm oil bad?

A woman is pouring a big container of palm oil into a barrel.

It might be a while before synthetic palm oil hits our shelves, as it will need to go through lots of testing - but there are ways to help.

Choose products that use sustainable palm oil.

Many small farmers and farm workers depend on palm oil production to make enough money to live.

A fifth (20%) of the world's palm oil is certified as sustainable, and 70% of palm oil imported to the UK is sustainable too.

Products will often carry a certificate on their packaging if they use sustainable palm oil - but this is not always the case.

If you're not sure if a product contains sustainable palm oil, this can be checked on the company's website or by contacting them to ask.

A palm plantation next to the rainforest

Anita Neville works for one of the world's largest privately-owned palm oil plantation companies, and she said that if synthetic palm oil takes off, it could cause farmers to turn to other plants.

She said: "You're still going to have something in the region of 4.5 million farmers in Indonesia, who are growing palm oil today and who might be moved into crops that are more land hungry, for example rubber or timber.

"So it's not necessarily synthetic's good, traditional agriculture bad. It's finding the right balance."