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 utilized 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 across Europe that imports now represent majority of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

With no screening of what's being available in, specialists believe it is likewise ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports might increase logging

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Reducing emissions from transportation is proving to be one of the toughest obstacles for governments all over the world.

They have actually encouraged the use of biofuels as a crucial means of curbing carbon from vehicles and trucks.

Biofuels are usually a blend of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or veggies.

The truth that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 suggests they cancel out the carbon emitted when utilized in engines.

Soy and were when extensively utilized as components of biodiesel however this practice has been extensively challenged due to the fact that it encourages deforestation.

So for the last years approximately, the usage of utilized cooking oil has actually broadened massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being a crucial element of biodiesel with an effective 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 given that 2014, there merely isn't adequate chip fat to go around.

According to a report from the campaign group Transport & Environment, external, majority of the UCO used in Europe is imported.

Their research study suggests this is extremely troublesome when it pertains to influence 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 question of what individuals 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 readily available however the circulation of UCO is most likely to be similar.

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, managed to gather around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're just purchasing more virgin oil and that virgin oil is mostly palm oil, because that's the least expensive oil offered.

"So indirectly, we're just encouraging more logging in Southeast Asia."

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of need from Europe, the rate of UCO is often higher than palm oil. The worry is that some deceitful traders are simply diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.

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

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

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

He states a brand-new database being developed by the EU will make sure that trading, certification and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will need to be signed up.

"The combination of modified accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability issues emerge 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 first mooted in 2018, might not be effective in stemming suspected fraud.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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