Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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

Without any testing of what's coming in, professionals think it is likewise ripe for fraud.

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

They've encouraged making use of biofuels as a crucial ways of suppressing carbon from cars and trucks.

Biofuels are normally a blend of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or veggies.

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 implies they cancel out the carbon given off when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once extensively utilized as parts of biodiesel but this practice has been widely discredited due to the fact that it motivates deforestation.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become an essential part of biodiesel with a reliable industry springing up throughout Europe to collect and process the item.

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

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

Their study suggests this is extremely problematic when it pertains to effects on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually 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 European nations aren't available 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 utilized oil that's collected 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 less used cooking oil to utilize 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 mostly palm oil, because that's the cheapest oil offered.

"So indirectly, we're simply encouraging more deforestation in Southeast Asia."

Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of need from Europe, the rate of UCO is typically greater than palm oil. The concern is that some unethical traders are just diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the products is performed, some professionals believe fraud is rife.

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

"It is widely known that the European Commission has actually taken relevant actions to totally 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 make sure that trading, accreditation and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will have to be signed up.

"The combination of modified accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability concerns emerge in the whole biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

Others in the field are concerned that the database concept, which was very first mooted in 2018, may not be effective in stemming suspected scams.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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