Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

comments

354 Comments

New research concerns the ecological impact of rising imports 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 conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

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

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

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

Used cooking oil imports may enhance deforestation

Consumers pose 'growing threat' to tropical forests

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

They have actually encouraged the usage of biofuels as a crucial means of curbing carbon from vehicles and lorries.

Biofuels are generally a mix of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or vegetables.

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 means they cancel out the carbon given off when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once extensively used as elements of biodiesel however this practice has been commonly discredited because it motivates logging.

So for the last decade or so, using utilized cooking oil has actually broadened enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a key component of biodiesel with an efficient market springing up throughout Europe to collect and process the product.

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

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

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

While UCO is thought about 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 nations aren't readily 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 collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

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

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

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

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

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

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

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

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

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

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

"The mix of revised accreditation schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability concerns occur 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 work in stemming believed fraud.

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

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and risks of using 'phony' UCO, potentially resulting in indirect impacts such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

Related subjects

COP26

Paris environment arrangement

Climate