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Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research concerns 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 conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the demand 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 prove these imports are sustainable.

With no screening of what's coming in, experts believe it is likewise ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports may enhance deforestation

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Reducing emissions from transport is showing to be one of the hardest challenges for federal governments all over the world.

They have actually motivated the use of biofuels as an essential methods of suppressing carbon from cars and trucks and trucks.

Biofuels are generally a mix of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or veggies.

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

Soy and palm oil were as soon as extensively used as parts of biodiesel however this practice has been widely challenged since it motivates logging.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually ended up being an essential element of biodiesel with an effective industry springing up throughout Europe to gather and process the item.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year considering that 2014, there merely isn't sufficient chip fat to go around.

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

Their research study suggests this is highly problematic when it pertains to effect on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been used to feed animals. The report raises the concern 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 countries aren't available but the circulation of UCO is likely to be similar.

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

By contrast, Thailand, which has a of 70 million people, managed to gather around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

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

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

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of need from Europe, the price of UCO is typically greater than palm oil. The concern is that some unscrupulous traders are simply watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the materials is carried out, some professionals 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 extensively understood that the European Commission has taken appropriate steps to entirely 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 have to be registered.

"The combination of revised accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability concerns arise in the whole 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 believed scams.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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