Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research questions the ecological impact of increasing 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 need across Europe that imports now account for more than half 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 testing of what’s can be found in, specialists think it is also ripe for fraud.

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

They have actually encouraged the use of biofuels as a crucial methods of suppressing carbon from cars and trucks and lorries.

Biofuels are generally a blend 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 suggests they counteract the carbon released when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were as soon as widely utilized as components of biodiesel but this practice has actually been extensively discredited because it encourages logging.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually ended up being a key part of biodiesel with an efficient market emerging throughout Europe to collect and process the product.

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, more than half of the UCO used in Europe is imported.

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

While UCO is thought about 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 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 offered however 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 collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

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

“Because we are buying it, they have less utilized cooking oil to use on the things that they were previously using it for,” said Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

“And they’re just purchasing more virgin oil and that virgin oil is mainly palm oil, because 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 need from Europe, the rate of UCO is typically higher than palm oil. The concern is that some dishonest traders are merely diluting shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the products is brought out, some specialists think fraud is rife.

The suggestion 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 widely known that the European Commission has taken relevant actions to totally curb unsound market practices in 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 information on all bio-liquids will have to be signed up.

“The mix of revised accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability concerns emerge in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain,” he told BBC News.

Others in the field are worried that the database concept, which was first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming suspected scams.

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

“Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and threats of using ‘fake’ UCO, potentially leading to indirect effects such as logging.”

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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