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Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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

Chip fat and other oils are considered 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 account for over half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

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

Used cooking oil imports might improve deforestation

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Reducing emissions from transport is proving to be among the most difficult obstacles for federal governments all over the world.

They've motivated using biofuels as an essential methods of curbing carbon from cars and trucks and trucks.

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

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

Soy and palm oil were when widely utilized as parts of biodiesel however this practice has been since it motivates logging.

So for the last years or so, the usage of utilized cooking oil has expanded massively 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 industry springing up throughout Europe to collect and process the product.

But with the amount 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, over half of the UCO used in Europe is imported.

Their study suggests this is highly bothersome when it comes to influence on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been utilized to feed animals. The report raises the question of what individuals in these nations 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 countries aren't readily available however the flow 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 comparison, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, handled to collect around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're simply purchasing more virgin oil which virgin oil is mostly palm oil, because that's the most inexpensive oil available.

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

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of demand from Europe, the price of UCO is frequently higher than palm oil. The worry 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 screening of the materials is brought out, some specialists believe scams is swarming.

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

"It is commonly understood that the European Commission has taken relevant 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 make sure that trading, certification and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will need to be signed up.

"The mix of modified certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability problems develop 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 first mooted in 2018, might not work in stemming believed fraud.

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

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and dangers of using 'phony' UCO, possibly causing indirect impacts such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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