Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

comments

354 Comments

New research study questions the ecological effect of rising imports of utilized cooking oil (UCO) into the UK and Europe.

Chip fat and other oils are considered waste, so when they are utilized to make biodiesel it saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

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

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

Without any screening of what's can be found in, specialists think it is likewise ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports may boost deforestation

Consumers posture 'growing risk' to tropical forests

Reducing emissions from transportation is showing to be among the most difficult obstacles for governments all over the world.

They've motivated the use of biofuels as an essential ways of suppressing carbon from automobiles and trucks.

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

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

Soy and palm oil were as soon as extensively used as elements of biodiesel however this practice has been commonly rejected because it encourages deforestation.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being an essential component of biodiesel with an effective 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 since 2014, there just isn't adequate chip fat to go around.

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

Their research study recommends this is highly bothersome when it pertains to effect on the environment.

While UCO is considered 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 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 utilized oil that's collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

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

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

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

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

Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of demand from Europe, the price of UCO is frequently greater than palm oil. The worry is that some deceitful traders are simply diluting shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transport, and no screening of the products is carried out, some experts think fraud is rife.

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

"It is commonly known that the European Commission has actually taken appropriate actions to completely 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 information on all bio-liquids will need to be signed up.

"The mix of revised certification schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will guarantee that no sustainability issues develop in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.

Others in the field are concerned that the database idea, which was first mooted in 2018, might not be effective in stemming presumed fraud.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

Related topics

COP26

Paris environment arrangement

Climate