Climate change: 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 saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

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

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

With no testing of what's can be found in, experts believe it is likewise ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports might increase logging

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

They have actually motivated making use of biofuels as a crucial methods of curbing carbon from cars and lorries.

Biofuels are generally a mix of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or veggies.

The truth that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 suggests they cancel out the carbon emitted when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were as soon as commonly utilized as elements of biodiesel however this practice has actually been commonly challenged since it motivates logging.

So for the last decade approximately, using used cooking oil has expanded massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being a crucial component of biodiesel with an efficient market 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 enough chip fat to go around.

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

Their study suggests this is highly bothersome when it concerns effect on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been used to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what people 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 however the circulation of UCO is 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, handled to collect around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are buying it, they have less utilized 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 and that virgin oil is mostly palm oil, because that's the least expensive oil readily available.

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

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

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

As oils of different types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no screening of the materials is carried out, some experts believe fraud is swarming.

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

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

He says a new database being established by the EU will make sure that trading, accreditation and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will need to be registered.

"The mix of modified accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability problems emerge in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

Others in the field are worried that the database idea, which was first mooted in 2018, might not be efficient in stemming thought scams.

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

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and dangers of utilizing 'fake' UCO, possibly leading to indirect effects such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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