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Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study concerns the ecological impact of increasing imports of used 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 represent over half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

With no screening of what's being available in, professionals believe it is also ripe for fraud.

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from transport is showing to be one of the toughest difficulties for federal governments all over the world.

They have actually encouraged using biofuels as a crucial ways of curbing carbon from cars and trucks and lorries.

Biofuels are generally a blend of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or veggies.

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

Soy and palm oil were as soon as extensively utilized as elements of biodiesel however this practice has actually been widely rejected since it motivates logging.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have become an essential element of biodiesel with an effective industry emerging throughout Europe to collect and process the item.

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

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

Their research study recommends this is highly troublesome when it pertains to impacts on the environment.

While UCO is thought about 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 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 available 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 gathered and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

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

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

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

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

Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

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

As oils of different types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no screening of the materials is performed, some professionals think scams is rife.

The idea 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 schemes in location.

"It is extensively known that the European Commission has actually taken pertinent steps 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 guarantee that trading, certification and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will have to be signed up.

"The mix of modified certification plans 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 worried that the database concept, which was very first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming believed scams.

The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and aviation looking to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, need for UCO could double over the next decade.

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and risks of utilizing 'phony' UCO, potentially leading to indirect impacts such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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