Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research concerns the environmental impact 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 conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the demand throughout Europe that imports now represent majority of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

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

Used cooking oil imports may increase deforestation

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

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

Biofuels are normally 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 cancel out the carbon emitted when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were as soon as widely utilized as elements of biodiesel however this practice has been commonly discredited because it motivates deforestation.

So for the last years approximately, the use of utilized cooking oil has expanded massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being a key part of biodiesel with an efficient market emerging across 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 merely isn't enough chip fat to walk 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 extremely troublesome when it concerns influence 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 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 nations aren't readily available but the circulation of UCO is most likely to be comparable.

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

By comparison, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, handled to collect around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are purchasing it, they have actually less used cooking oil to utilize 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 and that virgin oil is mainly palm oil, since that's the most inexpensive oil offered.

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

Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of need from Europe, the price of UCO is frequently higher than palm oil. The worry is that some dishonest traders are just watering down shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transport, and no testing of the materials is brought out, some experts believe fraud is swarming.

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

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

He states a new database being established by the EU will ensure 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 ensure that no sustainability issues arise in the whole biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.

Others in the field are concerned that the database idea, which was very first mooted in 2018, may not be effective in stemming suspected scams.

The report from Transport & Environment points out that with shipping and aviation seeking to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, need for UCO could double over the next years.

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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