Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research concerns the environmental effect of increasing imports of used 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 demand 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 chance to prove these imports are sustainable.

Without any screening of what's coming in, professionals believe it is also ripe for scams.

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

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

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

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

Soy and palm oil were when extensively utilized as parts of biodiesel but this practice has actually been extensively challenged because it motivates logging.

So for the last decade or so, the use of used cooking oil has expanded massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being a key part of biodiesel with an effective market emerging across Europe to collect and process the product.

But with the quantity of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year since 2014, there just 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 extremely bothersome when it pertains to effect on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been used to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what individuals 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 offered but the flow 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 gathered and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

By comparison, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, managed to collect around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are purchasing it, they have less used cooking oil to use on the important things that they were formerly utilizing it for," said Greg Archer with Transport & .

"And they're simply purchasing more virgin oil and that virgin oil is mostly palm oil, since that's the cheapest oil offered.

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

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of demand from Europe, the rate of UCO is often greater than palm oil. The worry is that some dishonest traders are simply watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no testing of the materials is carried out, some professionals think fraud is swarming.

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

"It is widely understood that the European Commission has actually taken pertinent actions to completely curb unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

He states a brand-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 combination of modified certification schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability issues occur in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

Others in the field are worried that the database concept, which was very first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming believed scams.

The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and aviation 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 issues, and dangers of using 'fake' UCO, possibly causing indirect impacts such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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