Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research questions the environmental impact 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 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 study, external, there's no chance to prove these imports are sustainable.

With no testing of what's can be found in, experts believe it is likewise ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports might increase logging

Consumers pose 'growing threat' to tropical forests

Reducing emissions from transportation is showing to be among the toughest obstacles for governments all over the world.

They've encouraged using biofuels as an essential means of curbing carbon from cars and trucks and trucks.

Biofuels are typically a mix of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or veggies.

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 when widely used as elements of biodiesel but this practice has actually been extensively rejected because it motivates deforestation.

So for the last decade or so, the use of utilized cooking oil has expanded massively as an for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become an essential element of biodiesel with a reliable market emerging across Europe to collect and process the product.

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

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

Their study suggests this is highly problematic when it pertains to impacts on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste product 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 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 countries 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 used oil that's gathered and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

By comparison, 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 less utilized cooking oil to utilize on the important things that they were previously using it for," said Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

"And they're just buying more virgin oil and that virgin oil is largely palm oil, since that's the least expensive oil readily available.

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

Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of demand from Europe, the rate of UCO is frequently greater than palm oil. The concern is that some unscrupulous traders are simply watering down shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no screening of the materials is performed, some experts think scams is swarming.

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

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

He states a new database being developed by the EU will ensure that trading, certification and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will need to be signed up.

"The mix of modified certification 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 informed BBC News.

Others in the field are worried that the database idea, which was first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming thought fraud.

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

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and risks of using 'phony' UCO, possibly leading to indirect effects such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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