Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research questions the ecological 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 used to make biodiesel it conserves 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 chance to show these imports are sustainable.

Without any testing of what's can be found in, experts believe it is also ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports might enhance logging

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

They've motivated the use of biofuels as an important ways of suppressing carbon from automobiles and lorries.

Biofuels are generally 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 given off when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were as soon as commonly used as components of biodiesel but this practice has actually been widely discredited due to the fact that it motivates deforestation.

So for the last years or so, using used cooking oil has expanded massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have become a crucial component of biodiesel with an efficient industry emerging throughout Europe to gather and process the product.

But with the quantity of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year since 2014, there merely isn't sufficient chip fat to go around.

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

Their study recommends this is highly troublesome 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 long been utilized to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what individuals 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 nations aren't available however the flow of UCO is most likely to be similar.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to three litres per head of utilized oil that's collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

By contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, managed to collect around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

"And they're simply purchasing more virgin oil which virgin oil is mostly palm oil, because that's the most inexpensive oil offered.

"So indirectly, we're just encouraging more logging 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 dishonest traders are merely watering down shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no screening of the products is performed, some professionals think fraud is swarming.

The idea 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 commonly understood that the European Commission has actually taken relevant steps to totally suppress unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

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

"The mix of modified certification schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability concerns develop 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 be effective in stemming thought fraud.

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

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

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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