Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study concerns the environmental 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 used to make biodiesel it conserves 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 study, external, there's no method to prove these imports are sustainable.

With no screening of what's coming in, experts think it is likewise ripe for fraud.

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

They have actually encouraged making use of biofuels as an important means of suppressing carbon from vehicles and lorries.

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

The truth that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 suggests they cancel out the carbon discharged when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once widely used as parts of biodiesel but this practice has been widely discredited since it motivates logging.

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

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

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

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

Their study suggests this is extremely troublesome 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 long been used to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what people 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 readily available but 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 used oil that's collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

By contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million individuals, handled 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 things that they were formerly using it for," stated Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

"And they're just purchasing more virgin oil and that virgin oil is mainly palm oil, since that's the least expensive oil available.

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

Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of need from Europe, the price of UCO is typically greater than palm oil. The worry is that some deceitful traders are merely diluting shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are mixed in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the materials is brought out, some experts think scams 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 place.

"It is widely known that the European Commission has actually taken appropriate actions to completely curb 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 ensure that trading, certification and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will need to be registered.

"The mix of revised certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability problems arise in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.

Others in the field are concerned that the database idea, which was very first mooted in 2018, might not work in stemming believed scams.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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