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Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study concerns the ecological 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 utilized to make biodiesel it conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

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

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

With no testing of what's coming in, professionals believe it is also ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports may boost logging

Consumers posture 'growing danger' to tropical forests

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

They have actually motivated making use of biofuels as an important methods of suppressing carbon from cars and lorries.

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

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 indicates they cancel out the carbon released when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were as soon as commonly used as parts of biodiesel however this practice has actually been extensively rejected since it motivates logging.

So for the last years or two, using used cooking oil has expanded enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being an essential element 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 because 2014, there simply isn't adequate chip fat to go around.

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

Their research study recommends this is highly bothersome 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 aren't available but the flow of UCO is likely to be comparable.

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 individuals, handled to gather around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

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

"So indirectly, we're simply motivating more logging in Southeast Asia."

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of demand from Europe, the cost of UCO is often higher than palm oil. The concern is that some unscrupulous traders are simply diluting shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no screening of the products is performed, some experts think scams is rife.

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

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

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

"The mix of revised accreditation schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will guarantee that no sustainability problems 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 very first mooted in 2018, might not work in stemming presumed scams.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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