Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

comments

354 Comments

New research study questions the environmental effect of increasing 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 represent more than half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

Without any screening of what's can be found in, experts believe it is also ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports may boost deforestation

Consumers position 'growing risk' to tropical forests

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

They have actually motivated the usage of biofuels as a crucial means of suppressing carbon from automobiles and lorries.

Biofuels are generally a blend of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or vegetables.

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

Soy and palm oil were when widely utilized as elements of biodiesel but this practice has actually been commonly rejected since it motivates logging.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually ended up being an essential component of biodiesel with an efficient market emerging throughout Europe to gather and process the .

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

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

Their research study suggests this is highly problematic 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 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 offered but the flow of UCO is most likely to be similar.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to 3 litres per head of utilized oil that's collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

By comparison, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million individuals, managed to gather around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're just purchasing more virgin oil which virgin oil is mainly palm oil, since that's the most affordable oil offered.

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

Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of demand from Europe, the cost of UCO is frequently higher than palm oil. The concern is that some unethical traders are merely diluting shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are blended in bulk for transport, and no testing of the materials is performed, some experts believe fraud is rife.

The tip 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 accreditation plans in place.

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

He states a new database being established by the EU will ensure that trading, accreditation and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will need to be registered.

"The combination of revised certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability concerns arise in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.

Others in the field are concerned that the database idea, which was very first mooted in 2018, might not be efficient in stemming thought fraud.

The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and air travel looking to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, demand for UCO might double over the next decade.

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

Related subjects

COP26

Paris climate arrangement

Climate