Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study questions the environmental impact of increasing imports of utilized 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 conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need across Europe that imports now represent 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 screening of what’s coming in, experts believe it is also ripe for scams.

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Reducing emissions from transport is showing to be among the most difficult obstacles for governments all over the world.

They have actually motivated using biofuels as an essential methods of curbing carbon from vehicles and lorries.

Biofuels are usually a blend of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or vegetables.

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 suggests they counteract the carbon released when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once extensively utilized as components of biodiesel however this practice has actually been extensively challenged since it motivates deforestation.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being a key part of biodiesel with an effective market up throughout 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 merely isn’t adequate chip fat to go around.

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

Their research study recommends 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 used to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what people in these countries 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 nations 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 3 litres per head of used oil that’s collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

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

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

“And they’re just purchasing more virgin oil and that virgin oil is largely palm oil, because that’s the cheapest oil available.

“So indirectly, we’re simply encouraging more logging in Southeast Asia.”

Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

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

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transportation, and no screening of the products is carried out, some specialists believe scams 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 widely understood that the European Commission has taken pertinent steps to totally suppress unsound market practices in biofuel markets,” stated Angel Alberdi, EWABA’s secretary general.

He states a brand-new database being established by the EU will guarantee that trading, certification and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will need to be registered.

“The combination of modified certification schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will guarantee that no sustainability issues arise in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain,” he informed BBC News.

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

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

“Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and threats of using ‘phony’ UCO, potentially leading to indirect effects such as logging.”

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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