Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study concerns the environmental effect of increasing 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 conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the demand 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 way to prove these imports are sustainable.

With no screening of what's coming in, professionals believe it is also ripe for scams.

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

They've encouraged the usage of biofuels as an important ways of suppressing carbon from automobiles and trucks.

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

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 suggests they counteract the carbon produced when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were when commonly utilized as parts of biodiesel however this practice has actually been commonly rejected due to the fact that it encourages deforestation.

So for the last decade or two, the usage of utilized cooking oil has actually expanded enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have become a key part of biodiesel with an efficient market 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 considering that 2014, there just isn't sufficient chip fat to walk around.

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

Their research study recommends this is highly bothersome when it pertains to effect on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been used to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what people in these nations 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 available however the flow of UCO is most likely to be comparable.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to three litres per head of used 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 gather around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are purchasing it, they have actually less utilized cooking oil to utilize on the important things that they were formerly utilizing it for," stated Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

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

"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 rate of UCO is often greater than palm oil. The concern is that some unscrupulous traders are merely diluting shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the products is performed, some professionals believe scams 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 accreditation plans in location.

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

He says a new database being developed by the EU will make sure that trading, accreditation and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will need to be registered.

"The mix of revised accreditation schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability concerns emerge in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.

Others in the field are worried that the database concept, which was very first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming believed scams.

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

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and dangers of utilizing 'phony' UCO, possibly to indirect impacts such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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