Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

remarks

354 Comments

New research study questions the environmental impact of increasing imports of used cooking oil (UCO) into the UK and Europe.

Chip fat and other oils are thought about waste, so when they are used to make biodiesel it conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need across Europe that imports now account for over half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

According to the research study, external, there's no chance to prove these imports are sustainable.

With no testing of what's coming in, specialists think it is also ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports may increase deforestation

Consumers position 'growing hazard' to tropical forests

Reducing emissions from transportation is showing to be among the toughest challenges for federal governments all over the world.

They have actually motivated the use of biofuels as an important ways of curbing carbon from cars and lorries.

Biofuels are typically a mix of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or veggies.

The truth that these crops can be re-grown and soak up more CO2 implies they cancel out the carbon emitted when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once widely used as elements of biodiesel but this practice has actually been widely since it encourages deforestation.

So for the last decade or two, using utilized cooking oil has actually broadened enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually ended up being a crucial part of biodiesel with an efficient market emerging across Europe to collect and process the product.

But with the quantity of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year because 2014, there just isn't enough chip fat to walk around.

According to a report from the campaign group Transport & Environment, external, over half of the UCO utilized in Europe is imported.

Their research study recommends this is extremely bothersome when it comes to impacts on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been used to feed animals. The report raises the question of what individuals in these nations are replacing the UCO with, when it is exported.

In 2019, Malaysia exported 90 million litres of UCO to the UK and Ireland. Figures for their exports to other European countries aren't readily available however the circulation of UCO is most likely to be comparable.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to three litres per head of utilized oil that's collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

By contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million individuals, managed to collect around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are buying it, they have less used cooking oil to use on the important things that they were formerly utilizing it for," said Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

"And they're just purchasing more virgin oil and that virgin oil is mainly palm oil, since that's the most inexpensive oil available.

"So indirectly, we're simply encouraging more logging in Southeast Asia."

Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of demand from Europe, the price of UCO is typically greater than palm oil. The worry is that some unethical traders are just diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transport, and no screening of the products is performed, some experts think scams is rife.

The idea of scams anywhere along the chain of supply is turned down by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who state there are robust certification plans in location.

"It is extensively understood that the European Commission has taken appropriate actions to completely curb unsound market practices in biofuel markets," stated Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

He says a new database being established by the EU will ensure that trading, accreditation and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will have to be signed up.

"The combination of modified certification schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability concerns arise in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

Others in the field are concerned that the database concept, which was very first mooted in 2018, might not work in stemming suspected fraud.

The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and aviation aiming to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, demand for UCO might double over the next years.

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and risks of using 'fake' UCO, possibly resulting in indirect effects such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

Related topics

COP26

Paris climate arrangement

Climate