Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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

Chip fat and other oils are considered waste, so when they are used to make biodiesel it saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need throughout 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, professionals believe it is also ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports might increase logging

Consumers pose 'growing danger' to tropical forests

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

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

Biofuels are generally a blend of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or vegetables.

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 suggests they cancel out the carbon produced when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were when extensively utilized as components of biodiesel but this practice has been extensively discredited due to the fact that it encourages logging.

So for the last years or two, making use of utilized cooking oil has broadened enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become an essential component of biodiesel with a reliable 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 because 2014, there merely isn't enough chip fat to go around.

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

Their research study recommends 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 individuals 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 aren't offered but the flow 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 people, handled to gather around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're just buying more virgin oil which virgin oil is mostly palm oil, since that's the most inexpensive oil readily available.

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

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of need from Europe, the rate of UCO is frequently greater than palm oil. The concern is that some unscrupulous traders are merely diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are mixed in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the materials is performed, some experts believe scams is rife.

The idea 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 commonly known that the European Commission has taken appropriate actions to totally 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 guarantee that trading, accreditation and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will need to be registered.

"The mix of modified certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will guarantee that no sustainability concerns develop in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.

Others in the field are worried that the database idea, which was first mooted in 2018, may not be efficient in stemming presumed scams.

The report from Transport & Environment mentions that with shipping and aviation aiming 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 threats of using 'phony' UCO, potentially leading to indirect effects such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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