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Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study questions the environmental effect of rising 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 conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the demand across Europe that imports now 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 can be found in, specialists think it is also ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports may boost deforestation

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

They've motivated the usage of biofuels as an important ways of curbing carbon from cars and trucks and lorries.

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

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

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

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a crucial element of biodiesel with a reliable market springing up across Europe to collect and process the product.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year because 2014, there simply isn't sufficient chip fat to walk 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 highly problematic when it concerns influence on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been used to feed animals. The report raises the concern 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 readily available however the circulation of UCO is likely to be similar.

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 buying it, they have less utilized cooking oil to use on the important things that they were previously using it for," stated Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

"And they're just buying more virgin oil and that virgin oil is mainly palm oil, since that's the least expensive oil readily available.

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

Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

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

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transportation, and no screening of the materials is performed, some professionals 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 state there are robust certification schemes in place.

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

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

"The combination of revised 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 concerned that the database concept, which was very first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming suspected fraud.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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