NPower and Palm Oil (7.10.2006)

Note: this action is now closed, and appears for the record only. NPower have now declared that they have dropped current plans to use palm oil. Thank you to everyone who took part!

The UK introdced the Renewables Obligation to help with the development of clean, climate-friendly technologies. Npower (RWE) want to benefit from government support under the Obligation by burning palm oil from south-east Asia. Palm oil production is linked to the destruction of south-east Asia's remaining rainforests, evictions and human rights abuses, and to peat and forest fires which cause around three times as much greenhouse gas emissions as the Kyoto Protocol is meant to save. Tell Npower that rainforests are not renewable and that they must drop their plans!

Please copy the suggested text, edit and send to NPower.

This will be especially effective if you are an Npower customer, so please say so in the letter if you are.
Here is the Npower contact page
Anita Longley (Corporate Responsibilty) and Richard Frost (Public Relations) are probably the most appropriate contacts.

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“Dear Sir,

I am deeply concerned about your plans to burn palm oil in power stations under the Renewables Obligation.

The Renewables Obligation is supposed to help companies develop clean, climate-friendly technologies and a viable domestic renewable energy sector. Palm oil comes from rainforest nations and is neither clean nor climate-friendly. Millions of hectares of virgin rainforests have already been destroyed to make way for oil palm plantations. Local communities have their land taken from them and often suffer human rights abuses. The peat and forest fires in Indonesia alone account for three times the greenhouse gas emissions which the Kyoto Protocol sets out to save.

Burning palm oil in power plants will further drive up the price of palm oil, and make rainforest destruction ever more profitable - even if you were to buy from ‘certified’ sources. This is a travesty of the idea of ‘renewable energy’. Your customers want you to invest in truly renewable and sustainable energy, such as wind and solar power, and small-scale sustainable biomass grown locally. Please drop your plans now and assure me that palm oil, palm kernel (containing useable animal feed) and other tropical feedstocks linked to deforestation will not be used by Npower under the Renewables Obligation.

I look forward to your reply. Many thanks in advance.

Yours faithfully,

... ”