Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study concerns the ecological effect of increasing imports of used cooking oil (UCO) into the UK and Europe.

Chip fat and other oils are thought about 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 more than half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

Without any screening of what's being available in, specialists think it is also ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports may increase deforestation

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

They have actually encouraged making use of biofuels as an essential 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 truth that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 means they counteract the carbon discharged when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were as soon as widely utilized as elements of biodiesel but this practice has been extensively discredited because it encourages logging.

So for the last years approximately, using used cooking oil has actually broadened enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being a crucial part of biodiesel with an effective industry springing up throughout Europe to gather and process the item.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year because 2014, there simply isn't enough chip fat to walk around.

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

Their study suggests this is extremely bothersome when it pertains to effect 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 question of what individuals in these countries 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 offered however the flow of UCO is most 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 individuals, managed to collect around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are buying it, they have actually less utilized cooking oil to use on the important things that they were previously utilizing it for," said 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 offered.

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

Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of need from Europe, the price of UCO is frequently greater than palm oil. The concern is that some unethical traders are merely watering down shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no testing of the products is performed, some experts believe fraud is rife.

The idea of fraud anywhere along the chain of supply is rejected by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who say there are robust certification schemes in location.

"It is commonly known that the European Commission has actually taken pertinent actions to totally suppress unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

He states a new database being established by the EU will make sure 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 guarantee that no sustainability issues develop in the whole biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

Others in the field are worried that the database idea, which was very first mooted in 2018, may not be efficient in stemming thought scams.

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

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and threats of using 'phony' UCO, potentially causing indirect effects such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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