Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research 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 demand across Europe that imports now represent majority 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 screening of what's being available in, professionals think it is also ripe for fraud.

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Reducing emissions from transport is showing to be among the hardest obstacles for governments all over the world.

They've encouraged making use of biofuels as an essential means of suppressing carbon from cars and trucks and trucks.

Biofuels are usually a blend of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or vegetables.

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

Soy and palm oil were as soon as extensively utilized as elements of biodiesel however this practice has been widely rejected because it motivates deforestation.

So for the last years approximately, making use of used cooking oil has actually expanded massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually ended up being an essential element of biodiesel with an efficient industry 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 because 2014, there merely isn't adequate chip fat to walk around.

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

Their study suggests this is extremely problematic when it pertains to effects on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been used to feed animals. The report raises the question of what individuals 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 to other European countries aren't readily available but the circulation of UCO is most likely to be similar.

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 contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, handled to collect around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are buying it, they have 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 buying more virgin oil and that virgin oil is mainly palm oil, since that's the most affordable oil readily available.

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

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

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

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no screening of the materials is brought out, some professionals believe fraud is rife.

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

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

He states a new database being established by the EU will make sure that trading, accreditation and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will need to be signed up.

"The mix of revised certification schemes 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 told BBC News.

Others in the field are concerned that the database concept, which was first mooted in 2018, may not be effective in stemming suspected fraud.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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