Climate Change: Growing Doubts Over Chip Fat Biofuel

Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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

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

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

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

Without any screening of what's being available in, professionals think it is also ripe for scams.

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

They've encouraged making use of biofuels as an important methods of curbing carbon from vehicles and trucks.

Biofuels are normally a blend of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or vegetables.

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

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

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a crucial element of biodiesel with an effective market emerging throughout Europe to collect and process the product.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year because 2014, there simply isn't enough 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 extremely problematic when it comes to effects on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been utilized to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what individuals in these nations 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 but the circulation of UCO is 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 people, managed to collect around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

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

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

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of need from Europe, the price of UCO is typically greater than palm oil. The worry is that some deceitful traders are just diluting 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 professionals believe scams is swarming.

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

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

He states a new database being developed by the EU will make sure that trading, certification and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will have to be signed up.

"The mix of revised accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability concerns emerge in the whole biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.

Others in the field are worried that the database idea, which was very first mooted in 2018, might not be reliable in stemming suspected scams.

The report from Transport & Environment mentions that with shipping and air travel aiming to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, demand for UCO could double over the next decade.

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and threats of utilizing 'phony' UCO, potentially resulting in indirect effects such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.