GitLab

Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

remarks

354 Comments

New research questions the environmental effect 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 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 method to prove these imports are sustainable.

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

Used cooking oil imports might enhance logging

Consumers position 'growing hazard' to tropical forests

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

They have actually encouraged making use of biofuels as a ways of suppressing carbon from automobiles and lorries.

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

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 means they counteract the carbon released when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once commonly utilized as parts of biodiesel however this practice has been commonly rejected due to the fact that it encourages deforestation.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually ended up being an essential element 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 since 2014, there merely isn't sufficient chip fat to walk around.

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

Their research study suggests this is extremely bothersome when it comes to influence on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste material 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 countries aren't available however the flow of UCO is most likely to be comparable.

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 contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, handled to collect around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're just purchasing more virgin oil which virgin oil is largely palm oil, because that's the least expensive oil offered.

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

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of demand from Europe, the price of UCO is typically higher than palm oil. The concern is that some dishonest traders are just watering down shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no screening of the materials is performed, some specialists think scams is rife.

The recommendation of scams 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 extensively understood that the European Commission has taken appropriate actions to entirely curb unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

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

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

Others in the field are worried that the database concept, which was first mooted in 2018, might not be efficient in stemming thought fraud.

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

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and dangers of utilizing 'phony' UCO, possibly causing indirect effects such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

Related subjects

COP26

Paris environment agreement

Climate