Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel
21 April 2021
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New research study concerns 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 utilized to make biodiesel it saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.
But such is the need across Europe that imports now represent over half of the UCO that's made into fuel.
According to the study, external, there's no way to prove these imports are sustainable.
With no testing of what's can be found in, experts believe it is also ripe for scams.
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Reducing emissions from transportation is proving to be among the toughest obstacles for governments all over the world.
They have actually encouraged using biofuels as a crucial methods of suppressing carbon from cars and lorries.
Biofuels are usually a blend of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or veggies.
The reality that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 indicates they cancel out the carbon emitted when utilized in engines.
Soy and palm oil were once widely utilized as parts of biodiesel but this practice has been commonly rejected due to the fact that it encourages deforestation.
So for the last decade or so, making use of used cooking oil has actually broadened enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.
Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being a key element of biodiesel with a reliable market springing up throughout 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 merely isn't chip fat to go around.
According to a report from the project group Transport & Environment, external, majority of the UCO utilized in Europe is imported.
Their research study recommends this is highly problematic 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 utilized to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what people in these nations 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 but the circulation of UCO is likely to be similar.
With a population of around 33 million, that's close to 3 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 individuals, handled to gather around five 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," stated Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.
"And they're just buying more virgin oil and that virgin oil is largely palm oil, because that's the most inexpensive oil available.
"So indirectly, we're just motivating more deforestation in Southeast Asia."
Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.
Because of demand from Europe, the price of UCO is often higher than palm oil. The worry is that some deceitful traders are simply watering down 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 think fraud is rife.
The tip of fraud anywhere along the chain of supply is rejected by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who say there are robust accreditation schemes in place.
"It is commonly known that the European Commission has taken appropriate actions to entirely suppress unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.
He says a new database being established by the EU will guarantee that trading, accreditation and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will have to be registered.
"The combination of revised certification schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability issues occur in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.
Others in the field are worried that the database concept, which was first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming presumed scams.
The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and aviation looking to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, demand for UCO might double over the next years.
"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and threats of utilizing 'fake' UCO, possibly causing indirect impacts such as logging."
Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.
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Climate Change: Growing Doubts Over Chip Fat Biofuel
Wilbur Garrison edited this page 2025-01-11 10:51:49 +03:00