Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study questions the ecological impact of increasing imports of utilized cooking oil (UCO) into the UK and Europe.

Chip fat and other oils are thought about 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 over half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

With no screening of what's coming in, specialists believe it is also ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports might increase deforestation

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

They have actually motivated using biofuels as an important ways of curbing carbon from automobiles and trucks.

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

The truth 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 once extensively used as components of biodiesel but this practice has actually been commonly challenged due to the fact that it encourages logging.

So for the last years or so, using used cooking oil has actually expanded enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually ended up being a crucial part of biodiesel with a reliable industry emerging across Europe to collect and process the item.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year given that 2014, there just isn't enough 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 troublesome when it concerns 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 concern of what people in these nations are changing the UCO with, when it is exported.

In 2019, 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 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 comparison, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million individuals, handled to collect around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are purchasing it, they have 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 buying more virgin oil and that virgin oil is largely palm oil, since that's the most affordable oil offered.

"So indirectly, we're simply encouraging more deforestation in Southeast Asia."

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of need from Europe, the cost of UCO is typically 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 materials is performed, some experts believe scams is swarming.

The tip of scams anywhere along the chain of supply is turned down by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who say there are robust certification plans in place.

"It is commonly known that the European Commission has taken pertinent actions to totally curb unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

He states a new database being developed by the EU will make sure that trading, accreditation and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will have to be registered.

"The combination of modified accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will guarantee that no sustainability issues occur in the whole biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

Others in the field are concerned that the database idea, which was first mooted in 2018, might not be reliable in stemming presumed scams.

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

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and threats of using 'fake' UCO, potentially resulting in indirect effects such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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