Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study questions the environmental effect 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 used to make biodiesel it conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need across Europe that imports now represent majority of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

Without any screening of what's being available in, specialists think it is likewise ripe for scams.

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

They've motivated using biofuels as an essential methods of suppressing carbon from vehicles and lorries.

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

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 implies they counteract the carbon released when utilized in engines.

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

So for the last years or so, making use 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 element of biodiesel with a reliable industry springing up across Europe to gather and process the product.

But with the quantity 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, over half of the UCO used in Europe is imported.

Their research study suggests this is extremely problematic when it concerns influence on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been used to feed animals. The report raises the question of what individuals in these nations 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 circulation 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 people, managed to collect around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're simply buying more virgin oil which virgin oil is mainly palm oil, because that's the most inexpensive oil available.

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

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of need from Europe, the cost of UCO is often greater than palm oil. The worry is that some unethical traders are just watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no testing of the products is performed, some experts think fraud is rife.

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

"It is extensively understood that the European Commission has actually taken pertinent steps to completely suppress unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

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

"The mix of revised certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability issues occur 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 first mooted in 2018, might not be reliable in stemming thought fraud.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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