Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study questions the ecological effect 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 used to make biodiesel it conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need 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 screening of what's coming in, experts think it is likewise ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports might increase logging

Consumers posture 'growing hazard' to tropical forests

Reducing emissions from transportation is showing to be one of the toughest challenges for governments all over the world.

They have actually encouraged using 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 truth that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 implies they counteract the carbon released when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were as soon as extensively utilized as components of biodiesel but this practice has actually been widely due to the fact that it motivates logging.

So for the last years approximately, using used cooking oil has broadened enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually ended up being an essential component of biodiesel with an efficient industry emerging throughout Europe to collect and process the item.

But with the quantity of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year since 2014, there just isn't adequate 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 research study recommends this is extremely troublesome when it pertains to effect on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been used 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 available however the flow of UCO is likely to be similar.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to three litres per head of used 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 gather around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

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

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

Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of demand from Europe, the rate of UCO is frequently higher than palm oil. The worry is that some unscrupulous traders are just watering down shipments 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 experts think scams 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 say there are robust certification schemes in place.

"It is extensively understood that the European Commission has taken relevant actions to totally curb 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, accreditation and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will have to be registered.

"The combination of modified accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability concerns occur in the entire 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, may not work in stemming thought scams.

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

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and risks of utilizing 'phony' UCO, possibly causing indirect effects such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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