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 account for majority of the UCO that’s made into fuel.

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

Without any screening of what’s coming in, experts think it is likewise ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports may increase deforestation

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Reducing emissions from transportation is showing to be one of the hardest obstacles for federal governments all over the world.

They have actually encouraged the use of biofuels as an important ways of suppressing carbon from cars and trucks and trucks.

Biofuels are normally 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 suggests they cancel out the carbon discharged when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were as soon as commonly used as components of biodiesel however this practice has been commonly discredited since it encourages deforestation.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a crucial component of biodiesel with an effective market emerging throughout Europe to gather and process the product.

But with the quantity of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year since 2014, there simply isn’t sufficient chip fat to go around.

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

Their study suggests this is highly problematic when it pertains to effects 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 people in these nations are 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 countries aren’t offered but 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 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 5 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 using it for,” said Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

“And they’re just purchasing more virgin oil and that virgin oil is largely palm oil, because that’s the cheapest oil offered.

“So indirectly, we’re just encouraging 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 often greater than palm oil. The concern is that some unscrupulous traders are merely watering down shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the products is performed, some experts believe fraud is rife.

The suggestion 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 accreditation plans in place.

“It is extensively understood that the European Commission has actually taken pertinent steps to totally curb unsound market practices in biofuel markets,” said Angel Alberdi, EWABA’s secretary general.

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

“The combination of modified accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability concerns arise in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain,” he informed 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 points out that with shipping and air travel wanting to decarbonise by using biofuels, need for UCO could double over the next years.

“Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and risks of using ‘phony’ UCO, possibly causing indirect impacts such as logging.”

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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