1 Climate Change: Growing Doubts Over Chip Fat Biofuel

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Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research questions the ecological effect of increasing imports of used 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 study, external, there's no method to prove these imports are sustainable.

Without any screening of what's being available in, professionals believe it is likewise ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports may improve deforestation

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

They have actually encouraged using biofuels as an essential ways of suppressing carbon from cars and lorries.

Biofuels are usually 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 indicates they counteract the carbon discharged when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once commonly used as parts of biodiesel however this practice has actually been commonly rejected since it encourages deforestation.

So for the last decade or so, the usage of used cooking oil has broadened enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have become a key element of biodiesel with an effective 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, more than half of the UCO used in Europe is imported.

Their study recommends this is highly bothersome when it comes to effects 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 countries aren't readily available however the flow 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 gather around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are purchasing it, they have actually less utilized cooking oil to utilize on the important things that they were formerly utilizing it for," said Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

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

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

Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of need from Europe, the cost of UCO is often greater than palm oil. The concern is that some unscrupulous traders are merely diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the materials is performed, some professionals think fraud is swarming.

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

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

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

"The mix of revised accreditation schemes 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 told BBC News.

Others in the field are concerned that the database concept, which was first mooted in 2018, might not work in stemming believed fraud.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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