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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 impact 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 used to make biodiesel it saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need across Europe that imports now represent more than half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

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

Used cooking oil imports may enhance logging

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

They have actually motivated the use of biofuels as an essential means of suppressing carbon from automobiles and trucks.

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

The truth that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 indicates they counteract the carbon released when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once widely utilized as components of biodiesel but this practice has been widely rejected because it motivates logging.

So for the last decade or so, using utilized cooking oil has actually broadened enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being a key part of biodiesel with an efficient industry springing up across Europe to gather and process the item.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year considering that 2014, there simply isn't sufficient 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 study recommends this is highly bothersome when it comes to effect on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste product 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 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 but the circulation of UCO is likely to be comparable.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to 3 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, managed to gather around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're simply purchasing more virgin oil and that virgin oil is largely palm oil, because that's the least expensive oil available.

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

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of need from Europe, the cost of UCO is often higher than palm oil. The concern is that some deceitful traders are just watering down shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the materials is performed, some experts think fraud is rife.

The recommendation 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 schemes in location.

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

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

"The mix of modified certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will guarantee that no sustainability issues 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 believed fraud.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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