Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research concerns the environmental impact of rising imports of utilized 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 conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need across 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 being available in, experts believe it is also ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports might improve logging

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Reducing emissions from transport is showing to be one of the most difficult obstacles for federal governments all over the world.

They've motivated the use of biofuels as an important ways of suppressing carbon from cars and lorries.

Biofuels are typically a blend of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or veggies.

The truth that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 implies they cancel out the carbon discharged when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once widely utilized as elements of biodiesel but this practice has actually been extensively discredited because it encourages deforestation.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a key element of biodiesel with a reliable market springing up throughout 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 simply isn't enough chip fat to walk around.

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

Their research study suggests this is highly bothersome when it pertains to effect on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been used to feed animals. The report raises the question 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 nations aren't readily available but the flow of UCO is most likely to be similar.

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, handled to collect around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

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

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

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

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

As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transport, and no screening of the products is brought out, some professionals believe scams is rife.

The tip of fraud anywhere along the chain of supply is declined by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who say there are robust certification plans in location.

"It is extensively understood that the European Commission has actually taken relevant steps to completely 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 make sure that trading, accreditation and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will have to be signed up.

"The combination of modified certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will guarantee that no sustainability problems emerge 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 first mooted in 2018, might not work in stemming thought scams.

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

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and dangers of utilizing 'phony' UCO, possibly resulting in indirect impacts such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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