Palm Oil Without the Carnage? A Tiny Algae Might Just Save the Orangutans

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You’d be forgiven for thinking palm oil is in everything, because, well, it pretty much is. From your lip balm to your snack bars, this slick and versatile oil is the invisible engine of modern convenience. But there’s blood in the oil. Every year, tens of thousands of hectares of Indonesian forest are bulldozed for palm plantations. The cost? Around 50 orangutans killed every week, either starved out, pushed out, or hunted as pests.

Source: PFN Archives - Orangutan sitting in denuded forest

Now, the biotech outfit Checkerspot thinks it has a way to stop the carnage, using a microscopic algae strain sounding more like a sci-fi character than a rainforest saviour- Prototheca moriformis.

This isn’t seaweed, and it’s not grown in sun-drenched plantations. It’s microalgae, single-celled organisms cultivated in steel fermentation tanks, not forests. Think precision brewing, not clearcutting. Checkerspot has managed to coax these little bio-factories into producing an oil that mimics the fatty acid profile of palm oil, with over 55% oleic acid and a healthy amount of saturated fats for that creamy, shelf-stable finish that food manufacturers love.

Source: Checkerspot Precision Fermented Palm Oil - Nicola-Parisi

Why does this matter? Because Indonesia’s moratorium on palm oil expansion isn’t working. Land clearance continues, illegally or under dubious legal loopholes. In Malaysia, things are calmer for now, but in Borneo, the bulldozers haven’t stopped. Each hectare lost is another nail in the coffin for orangutans, whose native habitat has shrunk by more than 80% in some regions.

Meanwhile, palm oil demand is expected to double by 2050. There is no viable path forward that doesn’t include sustainable alternatives. Checkerspot’s microalgae oil doesn’t need rainforests, doesn’t rely on cheap tropical land, and doesn’t pump out methane the way cattle fat does. It can be grown anywhere, with clean inputs, a closed loop, and zero orangutans harmed.

It’s not a silver bullet, but it is a shot across the bow of Big Palm. And it raises a blunt question: If we can make palm oil without chainsaws and extinction, why aren’t we?

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