Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

remarks

354 Comments

New research concerns the ecological effect of of used 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 throughout Europe that imports now represent over half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

With no testing of what's can be found in, professionals believe it is likewise ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports may increase logging

Consumers pose 'growing risk' 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 using biofuels as a crucial methods of suppressing carbon from cars and lorries.

Biofuels are generally a mix of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or veggies.

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and soak up more CO2 indicates they counteract the carbon emitted when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were when commonly utilized as elements of biodiesel but this practice has actually been commonly discredited because it encourages logging.

So for the last years or two, using utilized cooking oil has expanded massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become an essential element of biodiesel with a reliable market springing up throughout Europe to gather and process the item.

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 suggests this is extremely bothersome when it pertains to influence on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been utilized to feed animals. The report raises the question of what people in these countries 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 countries aren't readily available but the flow of UCO is likely to be comparable.

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

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

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

"And they're just purchasing more virgin oil which virgin oil is mainly palm oil, since that's the cheapest oil readily available.

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

Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of demand from Europe, the rate of UCO is often higher than palm oil. The worry is that some unethical traders are simply watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the products is carried out, some professionals think fraud is swarming.

The idea of scams anywhere along the chain of supply is turned down by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who say there are robust accreditation plans in location.

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

He states a new database being established by the EU will guarantee that trading, certification and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will need to be signed up.

"The mix of revised accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability issues arise in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

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

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

Related subjects

COP26

Paris climate contract

Climate