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Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study concerns the environmental effect of rising imports of utilized 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 saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need throughout Europe that imports now over half 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 testing of what's coming in, professionals think it is also ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports might boost logging

Consumers pose 'growing risk' to tropical forests

Reducing emissions from transportation is proving to be among the most difficult challenges for governments all over the world.

They have actually motivated making use of biofuels as an important means of curbing carbon from cars and trucks.

Biofuels are usually a mix of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or vegetables.

The reality that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 indicates they cancel out the carbon given off when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were when extensively utilized as elements of biodiesel however this practice has actually been commonly discredited due to the fact that it encourages logging.

So for the last decade or so, the use of used cooking oil has expanded enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

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

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

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

Their research study suggests this is highly bothersome when it pertains 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 countries are changing 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 readily available however the flow of UCO is most likely to be similar.

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, managed to collect around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are purchasing it, they have less utilized cooking oil to utilize on the important things that they were previously utilizing it for," said Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

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

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

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of need from Europe, the cost of UCO is frequently greater than palm oil. The worry is that some unscrupulous traders are just diluting shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the materials is performed, some experts think scams is swarming.

The recommendation of fraud 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 place.

"It is extensively known that the European Commission has taken appropriate steps to completely suppress unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

He says a new database being established by the EU will guarantee that trading, certification and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will need to be registered.

"The mix of revised certification 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 idea, which was first mooted in 2018, might not work in stemming presumed scams.

The report from Transport & Environment mentions that with shipping and air travel aiming to decarbonise by using biofuels, need for UCO could double over the next years.

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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