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Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research concerns the ecological effect 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 used to make biodiesel it saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

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

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

With no screening of what's coming in, experts believe it is also ripe for fraud.

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

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

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

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and soak up more CO2 implies they counteract the carbon discharged when used in engines.

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

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually ended up being an essential element of biodiesel with an effective industry springing up across Europe to gather and process the product.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year given that 2014, there just isn't enough chip fat to walk around.

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

Their study suggests this is extremely bothersome when it pertains to impacts on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been used to feed animals. The report raises the concern 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 nations 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 3 litres per head of used oil that's collected 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 actually less used cooking oil to utilize on the important things that they were previously using it for," stated Greg Archer with & Environment.

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

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

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of demand from Europe, the rate of UCO is typically greater than palm oil. The worry is that some deceitful traders are simply diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no screening of the products is performed, some experts think fraud is swarming.

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

"It is extensively understood that the European Commission has actually taken appropriate steps to totally curb 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 information on all bio-liquids will have to be registered.

"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 concerned that the database idea, which was very first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming presumed fraud.

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

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and risks of using 'fake' UCO, potentially resulting in indirect impacts such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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