Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

comments

354 Comments

New research study questions the ecological impact 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 conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

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

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

Without any testing of what's can be found in, professionals think it is also ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports might boost logging

Consumers pose 'growing risk' to tropical forests

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

They've motivated making use of biofuels as an important methods of curbing carbon from cars and trucks and trucks.

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

The truth that these crops can be re-grown and soak up more CO2 implies they counteract the carbon emitted when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were as soon as commonly utilized as elements of biodiesel but this practice has been commonly challenged due to the fact that it motivates logging.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have become a crucial component of biodiesel with an effective industry emerging across Europe to gather and process the item.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year because 2014, there simply isn't sufficient chip fat to walk around.

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

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

While UCO is considered a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been utilized to feed animals. The report raises the question 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 countries aren't readily available but the flow of UCO is likely to be comparable.

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 people, managed to gather around 5 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 utilizing it for," said Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

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

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

Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of demand from Europe, the price of UCO is typically higher than palm oil. The worry is that some dishonest traders are just watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transport, and no screening of the materials is performed, some experts believe fraud is swarming.

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

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

He says a brand-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 modified certification schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability issues occur 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 believed fraud.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

Related subjects

COP26

Paris environment agreement

Climate