Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

comments

354 Comments

New research study concerns the ecological 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 utilized to make biodiesel it saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the demand across Europe that imports now account for more than half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

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

Used cooking oil imports may improve logging

Consumers position 'growing hazard' to tropical forests

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

They've motivated making use of biofuels as an important means of suppressing carbon from cars and trucks and trucks.

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 soak up more CO2 suggests they cancel out the carbon given off when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were as soon as extensively used as components of biodiesel however this practice has actually been commonly challenged because it motivates deforestation.

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

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

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

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

Their study suggests this is extremely 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 concern 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 nations aren't offered but the circulation 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 collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

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

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

"And they're simply buying more virgin oil which virgin oil is mainly palm oil, because that's the most affordable oil available.

"So indirectly, we're simply motivating more logging in Southeast Asia."

Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of demand from Europe, the cost of UCO is often higher than palm oil. The concern is that some deceitful traders are merely watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.

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

The idea 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 accreditation plans in place.

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

He says a new database being established by the EU will guarantee that trading, accreditation and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will need to be registered.

"The combination of revised certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability issues emerge in the whole biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

Others in the field are concerned that the database concept, which was first mooted in 2018, may not be reliable in stemming thought scams.

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

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and threats of using 'phony' UCO, potentially causing indirect impacts such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

Related subjects

COP26

Paris climate contract

Climate