Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research questions the environmental 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 demand throughout 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.

With no testing of what's can be found in, specialists believe it is likewise ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports may boost logging

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

They have actually motivated the use of biofuels as a crucial ways of curbing carbon from cars and trucks.

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

The reality that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 means they counteract the carbon emitted when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were as soon as commonly used as parts of biodiesel but this practice has actually been widely rejected due to the fact that it encourages logging.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have become a key part of biodiesel with a reliable industry springing up throughout Europe to gather and process the item.

But with the quantity of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year considering that 2014, there merely isn't adequate 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 research study recommends this is extremely bothersome when it pertains to effects on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste product 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 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 but the flow of UCO is most likely to be comparable.

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 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're just buying more virgin oil which virgin oil is largely palm oil, since that's the most inexpensive oil offered.

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

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of need from Europe, the price of UCO is typically greater than palm oil. The worry is that some deceitful traders are just watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the products is performed, some experts think scams is swarming.

The suggestion of fraud 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 location.

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

He states a brand-new database being established by the EU will make sure that trading, accreditation and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will have to be registered.

"The combination of modified certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability issues occur in the whole biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.

Others in the field are concerned that the database idea, which was first mooted in 2018, may not be effective in stemming presumed scams.

The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and aviation seeking to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, need for UCO could double over the next years.

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and threats of utilizing 'phony' UCO, possibly leading to indirect effects such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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