Esme Stallard and Wanyuan Song.
Reality check.
The EPA has an image source.
The image caption is.
The issue of deforestation in Indonesia has become a political issue.
Indonesia promised at the recent COP26 climate summit that it would peak its greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030.
It's been said that it will end deforestation by that date.
It's relying on using more biofuels to reduce emissions from its transport sector, which can lead to the loss of forested land.
How can it curb its emissions using both renewable and fossil fuels?
The world's largest producer of biodiesel is Indonesia, which is also the third largest producer of biofuels.
The image is from the same source.
The image caption is.
In Indonesia, advanced research is being carried out on fuels.
Plants and animal waste can be used to make bio fuels.
They are considered a renewable alternative to fossil fuels as they can be regenerated quicker and release less greenhouse gases.
The government of Indonesia requires all diesel fuel to contain a mix of at least 30% biodiesel by 2025.
The transport sector is responsible for 13.6% of the country's emissions and 45% of its energy consumption. The government believes that this policy could reduce their transport emissions by 36 million tonnes.
It means that it will need to increase production of the biofuel by 50% over the next three years to meet demand.
It would require a huge increase in land used for production of bio-diesel to make up 25% of the country's palm oil production.
In theory, the emissions of fossil fuels should be reduced because when the crops grow, they absorb carbon from the atmosphere which is then released through burning - meaning there is no net increase in emissions.
The image is from NASA.
The image caption is.
Satellite imagery shows forest cleared for plantations.
The process of replanting can begin again.
Deforestation is needed to grow these crops, which causes problems.
Forests absorb more CO2 from the atmosphere than crops.
Replacing them with crops that use less CO2 leads to an increase in greenhouse gases, which contributes to global warming.
When forested land is cleared, it can be used to grow soybean or palm oil, which can cause more emissions than diesel.
The government is trying to implement measures for sustainable management of its forests. It failed to extend a ban on new palm oil plantations.
The environment minister of Indonesia said that the promise to end deforestation by 2030 was "inappropriate and unfair".
In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation in October, Indonesian President Joko Widodo defended his country's record of forest destruction, saying it had "rehabilitated a lot of hectares" of forests.
The annual rate of destruction has come down. Indonesia is one of the top three countries for the amount of forest loss due to new palm oil plantations.
Febry Calvin Tetelepta from the presidential office told us that palm oil plantations were a more efficient way to produce biofuel than using crops like sunflower and soy bean.
He said that palm oil requires less land than other oils for the same amount of land.
There are more than 60 countries with a requirement for biodiesel in their fuel supply.
Germany, the fourth largest global producer of biofuels, will no longer use palm oil from the year 2023 because of concerns about rainforest destruction.
The restrictions of the EU have been tightened.
Brazil has reduced production this year due to the lower yields of corn and soybean.
Thailand has stopped the roll out of diesel and biodiesel mixes because of high crop prices.
Around 50 to 60 plants that are more eco-friendly than palm oil could be used in Indonesia, according to Global Forest Watch.
The Carbon Disclosure Project found that certification issues for biofuel production, along with existing subsidies, encourages producers to continue with their practices of rainforest destruction.
Indonesia wants to move towards electric vehicles.
The EPA has an image source.
The image caption is.
A taxi driver is in Jakarta.
Indonesia has more than 21 million vehicles on the road, but only a few thousand were electric by the end of 2020.
Electric vehicles emit more emissions than diesel or petrol because of the fact that most of Indonesia's electricity is produced from fossil fuels.
Filda Yusgiantoro, director of an Indonesia energy think tank, says that palm oil will still play a major role in supplying fuel needs for the transportation sector.
Additional research done by Astudestra Ajengrastri.
Indonesia.
Climate change.
Reality check.
The content of external sites is not responsibility of the BBC.
