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Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research questions the environmental impact of rising 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 conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

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

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

With no screening of what's coming in, specialists think it is likewise ripe for scams.

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Reducing emissions from transportation is proving to be one of the hardest obstacles for governments all over the world.

They have actually motivated the use of biofuels as an important ways of curbing carbon from cars and trucks and lorries.

Biofuels are usually a blend of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or vegetables.

The reality that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 implies they cancel out the carbon produced when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were when commonly used as components of biodiesel but this practice has been extensively challenged since it encourages deforestation.

So for the last years approximately, making use of used cooking oil has expanded massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually ended up being an essential part of biodiesel with a reliable industry springing up across Europe to collect and process the product.

But with the quantity of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year considering that 2014, there simply isn't sufficient chip fat to walk around.

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

Their study recommends this is extremely bothersome when it comes to impacts on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste product 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 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 likely to be similar.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to three litres per head of used oil that's collected 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 purchasing it, they have less used cooking oil to utilize on the things that they were previously utilizing it for," said Greg Archer with Transport & .

"And they're just buying more virgin oil which virgin oil is mainly palm oil, because that's the most inexpensive oil available.

"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 typically higher than palm oil. The concern is that some unscrupulous traders are simply diluting shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are mixed in bulk for transportation, and no screening of the materials is carried out, some experts believe fraud is rife.

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

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

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

"The mix of revised certification schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will guarantee that no sustainability concerns arise in the whole biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.

Others in the field are worried that the database idea, which was first mooted in 2018, might not work in stemming thought scams.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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