Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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

But such is the demand across Europe that imports now account for more than half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

Without any screening of what's being available in, professionals believe it is likewise ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports may boost logging

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

They have actually encouraged using biofuels as an important means of suppressing carbon from vehicles and lorries.

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

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

Soy and palm oil were when extensively used as components of biodiesel however this practice has been widely rejected because it encourages deforestation.

So for the last decade or so, the usage of utilized cooking oil has actually broadened massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have become an essential part of biodiesel with an efficient 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 simply isn't enough chip fat to go around.

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

Their study suggests this is extremely bothersome when it concerns effect 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 of what people in these nations 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 countries aren't available however the circulation of UCO is most likely to be comparable.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to 3 litres per head of utilized oil that's collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

By contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million individuals, handled to gather around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're simply purchasing more virgin oil which virgin oil is largely palm oil, since that's the cheapest oil readily available.

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

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of need from Europe, the cost of UCO is typically greater than palm oil. The worry is that some unethical traders are just watering down shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are blended in bulk for transport, and no testing of the products is performed, some specialists think scams is rife.

The tip 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 plans in place.

"It is extensively known that the European Commission has taken pertinent actions to entirely suppress unsound market practices in biofuel markets," stated Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

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

"The mix of modified certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability issues arise in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

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

The report from Transport & Environment points out that with shipping and air travel aiming to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, demand for UCO might double over the next decade.

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and threats of utilizing 'fake' UCO, possibly causing indirect impacts such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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