Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research questions the ecological 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 demand throughout Europe that imports now represent more than half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

Without any of what's can be found in, experts believe it is also ripe for fraud.

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Reducing emissions from transport is proving to be one of the most difficult challenges for governments all over the world.

They have actually motivated making use of biofuels as an essential means of suppressing carbon from cars and trucks.

Biofuels are normally a mix of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or veggies.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While UCO is considered a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been utilized to feed animals. The report raises the question of what individuals in these countries 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 however the flow of UCO is likely to be comparable.

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 buying 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 simply buying more virgin oil and that virgin oil is largely palm oil, because that's the most affordable oil readily available.

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

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of need from Europe, the cost of UCO is typically higher than palm oil. The worry is that some unscrupulous traders are simply watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are mixed in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the materials is performed, some experts believe scams is swarming.

The suggestion of fraud anywhere along the chain of supply is turned down by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who state there are robust certification schemes in place.

"It is extensively known that the European Commission has taken appropriate steps to entirely curb unsound market practices in biofuel markets," stated Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

He says 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 modified certification 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 concept, which was first mooted in 2018, may not be efficient in stemming believed scams.

The report from Transport & Environment points out that with shipping and air travel 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 using 'phony' UCO, potentially causing indirect effects such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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