Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study concerns the ecological impact of rising imports of utilized 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 saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the demand throughout Europe that imports now represent more than half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

According to the study, external, there's no other way to show these imports are sustainable.

Without any testing of what's being available in, experts think it is also ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports might enhance deforestation

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Reducing emissions from transportation is proving to be among the toughest challenges for governments all over the world.

They have actually motivated using biofuels as a crucial means of curbing carbon from cars and trucks and trucks.

Biofuels are normally a mix of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or veggies.

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

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

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

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

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 walk around.

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

Their study recommends this is highly troublesome when it concerns impacts 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 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 nations aren't offered but 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 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 gather around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're just purchasing more virgin oil and that virgin oil is largely palm oil, since that's the most affordable oil offered.

"So indirectly, we're simply 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 often higher than palm oil. The worry is that some unscrupulous traders are just watering down shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no screening of the products is performed, some professionals believe fraud is swarming.

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

"It is widely understood that the European Commission has actually taken relevant actions to totally 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, certification and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will have to be registered.

"The combination of revised accreditation 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 first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming believed scams.

The report from Transport & Environment points out that with shipping and aviation wanting to decarbonise by using biofuels, need for UCO might double over the next decade.

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and dangers of utilizing 'phony' UCO, possibly causing indirect impacts such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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