Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research concerns the environmental impact of increasing imports of used (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 throughout Europe that imports now account for 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.

Without any testing of what's can be found in, professionals believe it is likewise ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports might enhance logging

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

They've motivated using biofuels as a crucial ways of suppressing carbon from cars and lorries.

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

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

Soy and palm oil were as soon as commonly utilized as parts of biodiesel but this practice has been extensively challenged since it encourages logging.

So for the last decade or two, making use 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 effective industry springing up throughout Europe to gather and process the product.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year since 2014, there merely isn't sufficient 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 highly 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 actually long been utilized to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what people in these countries are replacing 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 3 litres per head of used 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 less used cooking oil to use on the things that they were formerly utilizing it for," said Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

"And they're simply buying more virgin oil and that virgin oil is mostly palm oil, because that's the most inexpensive oil available.

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

Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of demand from Europe, the cost of UCO is typically 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 screening of the materials is carried out, some professionals believe fraud is swarming.

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

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

He says a brand-new database being established by the EU will ensure that trading, certification and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will have to be registered.

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

Others in the field are concerned that the database idea, which was first mooted in 2018, might not be reliable in stemming believed scams.

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 years.

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and dangers of using 'fake' UCO, potentially resulting in indirect effects such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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