Climate Change: Growing Doubts Over Chip Fat Biofuel
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Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research questions 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 conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

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

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

With no testing of what's being available in, professionals believe it is likewise ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports might boost deforestation

Consumers position 'growing threat' to tropical forests

Reducing emissions from transport is proving to be one of the hardest challenges for federal 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 normally a mix of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or vegetables.

The reality that these crops can be re-grown and soak up more CO2 means they cancel out the carbon emitted when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once widely used as parts of biodiesel however this practice has been extensively discredited because it motivates logging.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have become an essential part of biodiesel with an effective market springing up throughout Europe to gather and process the product.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year because 2014, there simply isn't enough 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 extremely bothersome when it comes to 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 question of what individuals in these nations 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 European nations aren't offered but the 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 collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

By comparison, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million individuals, handled to collect around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're simply purchasing more virgin oil and that virgin oil is mainly palm oil, since that's the least expensive oil offered.

"So indirectly, we're just motivating more deforestation in Southeast Asia."

Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

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

As oils of different types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the materials is brought out, some experts think scams is swarming.

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

"It is commonly understood that the European Commission has actually taken relevant steps to entirely curb unsound market practices in biofuel markets," stated Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

He states a brand-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 combination of modified certification schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability issues arise in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.

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

The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and aviation wanting 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 risks of utilizing 'fake' UCO, potentially resulting in indirect impacts such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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