Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study questions the ecological impact of increasing 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 saves 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 study, external, there's no way to prove these imports are sustainable.

Without any testing of what's coming in, specialists believe it is also ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports may enhance deforestation

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Reducing emissions from transport is showing to be among the toughest obstacles for federal governments all over the world.

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

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

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

Soy and palm oil were when commonly utilized as elements of biodiesel but this practice has actually been extensively rejected because it motivates deforestation.

So for the last years or two, using used cooking oil has actually expanded enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

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

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year given that 2014, there simply isn't adequate chip fat to go around.

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

Their research study suggests this is extremely problematic when it pertains to effects 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 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 available however the flow of UCO is most likely to be similar.

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

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

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

"And they're simply purchasing more virgin oil and that virgin oil is largely palm oil, because that's the least expensive oil available.

"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 cost of UCO is often higher than palm oil. The concern is that some dishonest traders are just diluting shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no screening of the products is carried out, some professionals think scams is swarming.

The suggestion 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 schemes in location.

"It is extensively understood that the European Commission has taken appropriate steps to entirely curb unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

He states a new database being developed by the EU will guarantee that trading, accreditation and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will have to be registered.

"The mix of modified accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will guarantee that no sustainability concerns develop in the whole 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 presumed scams.

The report from Transport & Environment mentions that with shipping and air travel aiming to decarbonise by using biofuels, demand for UCO might 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 effects such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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