Climate Change: Growing Doubts Over Chip Fat Biofuel

Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study questions the environmental impact of increasing imports of used cooking oil (UCO) into the UK and Europe.

Chip fat and other oils are thought about 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 account for more than half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

Without any testing of what's coming in, experts believe it is likewise ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports might boost deforestation

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Reducing emissions from transportation is showing to be one of the most difficult difficulties for federal governments all over the world.

They have actually motivated using biofuels as a crucial means of curbing carbon from cars and trucks.

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

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

Soy and palm oil were once widely utilized as parts of biodiesel however this practice has actually been extensively discredited due to the fact that it motivates logging.

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

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

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

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

Their study recommends this is extremely bothersome when it concerns effects 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 concern 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 readily available however the circulation of UCO is most likely to be similar.

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 comparison, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, managed to gather 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 using it for," said Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

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

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

Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of need from Europe, the cost of UCO is often greater than palm oil. The concern is that some deceitful traders are simply diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the products is brought out, some specialists think fraud 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 say there are robust certification plans in place.

"It is widely known that the European Commission has actually taken appropriate actions to totally suppress unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

He says a new database being developed by the EU will guarantee that trading, accreditation and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will need to be signed up.

"The combination of modified certification schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will guarantee that no sustainability problems arise 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 seeking to decarbonise by using biofuels, need for UCO might double over the next decade.

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and threats of using 'fake' UCO, possibly causing indirect impacts such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.