Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study questions the environmental effect of increasing 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 represent more than half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

With no testing of what's can be found in, professionals think it is also ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports may improve deforestation

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Reducing emissions from transportation is proving to be among the hardest obstacles for federal governments all over the world.

They have actually encouraged the use of biofuels as an important methods of curbing carbon from cars and lorries.

Biofuels are generally a mix of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or vegetables.

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

Soy and palm oil were once extensively used as elements of biodiesel but this practice has actually been widely discredited due to the fact that it motivates logging.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a key part of biodiesel with an efficient market emerging across Europe to gather and process the product.

But with the quantity of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year considering that 2014, there merely 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 research study suggests this is highly problematic when it concerns effects on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been utilized 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 nations aren't offered but the circulation of UCO is likely to be similar.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to three litres per head of used oil that's gathered and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

By contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, managed to gather around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're simply buying more virgin oil which virgin oil is mostly palm oil, since that's the most affordable oil available.

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

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

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

As oils of various types are blended 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 schemes in place.

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

He says a brand-new database being established by the EU will ensure that trading, accreditation and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will have to be signed up.

"The combination of revised certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability problems arise in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.

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

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

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and threats of utilizing 'phony' UCO, possibly leading to indirect impacts such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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