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 concerns the environmental effect 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 saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the demand throughout Europe that imports now account for majority of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

With no screening of what's being available in, specialists believe it is also ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports might improve deforestation

Consumers posture 'growing risk' to tropical forests

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 an essential ways of curbing carbon from cars and lorries.

Biofuels are typically a mix of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or vegetables.

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and soak up more CO2 suggests they counteract the carbon given off when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once commonly utilized as components of biodiesel but this practice has been extensively rejected because it encourages deforestation.

So for the last years or so, the use of utilized cooking oil has 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 market emerging throughout 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 just isn't adequate 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 study suggests this is extremely bothersome when it pertains 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 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 but the flow of UCO is 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 comparison, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, handled to gather around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are purchasing it, they have less utilized cooking oil to utilize on the important things that they were previously utilizing 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 just encouraging more deforestation in Southeast Asia."

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

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

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no testing of the materials is performed, some experts believe fraud is swarming.

The suggestion of fraud anywhere along the chain of supply is declined by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who say there are robust certification plans in location.

"It is commonly understood that the European Commission has actually taken pertinent steps to entirely curb 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, accreditation and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will have to be signed up.

"The combination of modified certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability problems emerge 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, may not work in stemming thought scams.

The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and air travel wanting to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, demand for UCO might double over the next decade.

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and dangers of utilizing 'phony' UCO, potentially leading to indirect impacts such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.