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Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study concerns 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 utilized to make biodiesel it saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need throughout Europe that imports now for over half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

Without any testing of what's coming in, experts think it is also ripe for fraud.

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

They've motivated using biofuels as an essential means of curbing carbon from cars and trucks and trucks.

Biofuels are generally a mix of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or veggies.

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

Soy and palm oil were as soon as widely used as components of biodiesel but this practice has been extensively rejected because it encourages logging.

So for the last years or two, 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 efficient market springing up throughout Europe to gather and process the product.

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

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

Their study recommends this is extremely bothersome when it comes to impacts on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been utilized 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 available however the circulation of UCO is likely to be comparable.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to three 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 gather around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're simply buying more virgin oil and that virgin oil is largely palm oil, since that's the most inexpensive oil readily available.

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

Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

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

As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transport, and no testing of the products is performed, some professionals think scams is swarming.

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

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

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

"The mix of revised certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will guarantee that no sustainability problems occur in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

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

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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