Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel


21 April 2021


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New research study questions the ecological effect 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 utilized to make biodiesel it conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.


But such is the need throughout Europe that imports now represent majority 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 coming in, professionals believe it is also ripe for scams.


Used cooking oil imports might enhance logging


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


They've motivated the use of biofuels as an essential methods of suppressing carbon from vehicles and lorries.


Biofuels are usually a mix of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or veggies.


The reality that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 means they cancel out the carbon given off when used in engines.


Soy and palm oil were when widely utilized as elements of biodiesel however this practice has been widely challenged since it encourages deforestation.


So for the last decade or two, making use of used cooking oil has broadened massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.


Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become an essential component of biodiesel with an efficient market springing up across Europe to collect and process the product.


But with the quantity of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year because 2014, there just isn't sufficient 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 extremely problematic when it pertains to influence on the environment.


While UCO is thought about a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been utilized 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 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 utilized oil that's gathered and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.


By comparison, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, handled 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 important things that they were previously utilizing it for," said Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.


"And they're just purchasing more virgin oil which virgin oil is mainly palm oil, because that's the most inexpensive oil available.


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


Another significant 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 deceitful traders are merely diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.


As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transportation, and no screening of the products is brought out, some experts think scams is swarming.


The suggestion 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 plans in place.


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


He says a new database being established by the EU will make sure that trading, accreditation 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 guarantee 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 concept, which was first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming presumed scams.


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


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


Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.


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