Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study questions the ecological 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 oil.

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

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

Without any screening of what's being available in, experts believe it is also ripe for fraud.

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

They've motivated making use of biofuels as a crucial means of suppressing carbon from cars and trucks and trucks.

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

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 means they cancel out the carbon emitted when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were when extensively used as parts of biodiesel but this practice has actually been extensively rejected because it encourages logging.

So for the last decade or two, making use of utilized cooking oil has actually expanded massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have become a key component of biodiesel with an efficient market springing up across Europe to collect and process the item.

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

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

Their research study recommends this is extremely problematic when it concerns effect on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been used to feed animals. The report raises the question of what people 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 nations aren't available but 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 used oil that's collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

By contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, handled to collect around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

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

"So indirectly, we're just motivating more deforestation in Southeast Asia."

Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of demand from Europe, the cost of UCO is often greater than palm oil. The concern is that some unethical traders are merely watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transport, and no testing of the products is performed, some specialists believe scams is swarming.

The suggestion of scams anywhere along the chain of supply is declined by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who say there are robust accreditation plans in place.

"It is widely understood that the European Commission has actually taken relevant actions to entirely suppress unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

He states a brand-new database being developed by the EU will make sure that trading, certification and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will have to be registered.

"The combination of modified accreditation schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability issues emerge 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 be reliable in stemming presumed scams.

The report from Transport & Environment points out that with shipping and aviation looking to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, need for UCO could double over the next decade.

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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