Climate Change: Growing Doubts Over Chip Fat Biofuel

Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study questions the environmental effect of increasing imports of used 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 across 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.

With no screening of what’s can be found in, experts believe it is likewise ripe for fraud.

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

They’ve encouraged making use of biofuels as an important ways of curbing carbon from cars and lorries.

Biofuels are typically a mix of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or veggies.

The reality that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 implies they counteract the carbon given off when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once widely utilized as parts of biodiesel but this practice has actually been widely challenged due to the fact that it encourages logging.

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

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

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

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

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

While UCO is thought about a waste material 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 countries 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 offered however the circulation of UCO is most likely to be comparable.

With a population of around 33 million, that’s close to three 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 people, managed to gather around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

“And they’re simply buying more virgin oil and that virgin oil is mainly palm oil, because that’s the cheapest oil readily available.

“So indirectly, we’re simply motivating more logging in Southeast Asia.”

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

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

As oils of different types are mixed in bulk for transportation, and no screening of the products is brought out, some experts think fraud is rife.

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

“It is widely understood that the European Commission has actually taken appropriate actions to completely curb 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 data on all bio-liquids will have to be registered.

“The combination of revised accreditation schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability concerns arise in the whole biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain,” he told BBC News.

Others in the field are worried that the database concept, which was first mooted in 2018, might not work in stemming presumed fraud.

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

“Rising the need beyond levels would increase these issues, and threats of using ‘fake’ UCO, potentially leading to indirect impacts such as deforestation.”

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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