Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

remarks

354 Comments

New research study concerns 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 conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

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

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

Without any testing of what's can be found in, specialists think it is also ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports might increase deforestation

Consumers position 'growing danger' to tropical forests

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

They have actually motivated using biofuels as a crucial ways of suppressing carbon from cars and trucks and trucks.

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

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 indicates they cancel out the carbon discharged when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once widely used as components of biodiesel however this practice has been widely challenged since it encourages logging.

So for the last years approximately, making use of used cooking oil has broadened enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being a key element of biodiesel with an efficient industry 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 walk around.

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

Their study suggests this is extremely problematic when it comes to effect 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 nations aren't available however the flow of UCO is likely to be similar.

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

By contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, managed to gather around five 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 previously utilizing it for," stated Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

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

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

Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of demand from Europe, the cost of UCO is frequently higher than palm oil. The worry is that some dishonest traders are just diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.

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

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

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

He says a brand-new database being established by the EU will make sure that trading, certification and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will have to be signed up.

"The mix of revised accreditation schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability issues arise 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 very first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming suspected scams.

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

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and dangers of utilizing 'fake' UCO, possibly leading to indirect effects such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

Related subjects

COP26

Paris climate contract

Climate