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Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study questions the environmental 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 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 research study, external, there's no method to show these imports are sustainable.

With no testing of what's coming in, experts think it is also ripe for scams.

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

They've encouraged using biofuels as a crucial methods of curbing carbon from vehicles and lorries.

Biofuels are normally a mix of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or vegetables.

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

Soy and palm oil were as soon as widely utilized as elements of biodiesel but this practice has actually been commonly rejected because it motivates deforestation.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being a key part of biodiesel with an efficient market emerging throughout Europe to gather and process the product.

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

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

Their research study recommends this is highly bothersome when it pertains to influence on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste product 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 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 available however the flow 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 comparison, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million individuals, managed to collect around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

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

"So indirectly, we're just motivating more deforestation in Southeast Asia."

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of demand from Europe, the price of UCO is typically greater than palm oil. The worry is that some deceitful traders are simply diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are blended in bulk for transport, and no testing of the materials is performed, some experts believe scams is swarming.

The recommendation of fraud anywhere along the chain of supply is declined by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who say there are robust accreditation plans in place.

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

He says a 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 mix of revised certification plans and the and trace database will guarantee 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 suspected fraud.

The report from Transport & Environment mentions that with shipping and aviation seeking to decarbonise by using biofuels, demand for UCO could double over the next years.

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and dangers of utilizing 'phony' UCO, potentially resulting in indirect effects such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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