Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study 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 saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need throughout Europe that imports now represent majority 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 can be found in, specialists believe it is also ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports may enhance logging

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

They have actually motivated the usage of biofuels as an important methods of curbing carbon from automobiles and lorries.

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

The reality that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 implies they counteract the carbon emitted when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were when commonly utilized as components of biodiesel however this practice has been widely challenged since it motivates logging.

So for the last years or two, making use of used cooking oil has expanded enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a key part of biodiesel with a reliable industry emerging across Europe to gather and process the item.

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

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

Their research study suggests this is highly problematic when it comes to effect on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been used to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what people 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 available but the circulation of UCO is 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 comparison, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, 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 just purchasing more virgin oil and that virgin oil is largely palm oil, since that's the cheapest oil available.

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

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of need from Europe, the price of UCO is frequently higher than palm oil. The concern is that some unscrupulous traders are simply diluting shipments of UCO with palm.

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

The tip 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 extensively understood that the European Commission has actually taken relevant actions to entirely 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 guarantee that trading, certification and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will have to be signed up.

"The mix of modified accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability problems develop in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

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

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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