Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study concerns the ecological impact of rising imports of used cooking oil (UCO) into the UK and Europe.

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

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

Without any testing of what's can be found in, specialists believe it is likewise ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports might increase deforestation

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Reducing emissions from transport is proving to be one of the toughest difficulties for governments all over the world.

They've encouraged using biofuels as an important means of suppressing carbon from vehicles and trucks.

Biofuels are typically a blend of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or veggies.

The reality that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 means they counteract the carbon discharged when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once commonly utilized as elements of biodiesel but this practice has actually been widely challenged because it motivates deforestation.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a key element of biodiesel with an effective market springing up throughout Europe to gather and process the item.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year because 2014, there merely isn't adequate chip fat to go around.

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

Their research study recommends this is highly problematic when it comes to effect on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been used to feed animals. The report raises the concern 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 European countries aren't readily available but the circulation of UCO is most 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 contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million individuals, managed to gather around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

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

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

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

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

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no testing of the products is performed, some professionals think scams is swarming.

The recommendation of scams 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 commonly understood that the European Commission has actually taken relevant steps to entirely suppress unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

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

"The mix of revised accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability concerns develop 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, may not be effective in stemming thought scams.

The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and aviation seeking to decarbonise by using biofuels, demand for UCO could double over the next years.

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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