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Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research questions the ecological impact 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 saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need throughout Europe that imports now represent majority of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

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

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

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

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

The reality that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 indicates they counteract the carbon discharged when utilized in engines.

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

So for the last years or so, making use of utilized cooking oil has broadened massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a key element of with an efficient 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 given that 2014, there just isn't adequate 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 research study recommends this is highly problematic when it comes to influence on the environment.

While UCO is considered 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 nations aren't offered but the flow of UCO is likely to be similar.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to 3 litres per head of used oil that's gathered and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

By comparison, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, managed to gather around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

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

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

Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of need from Europe, the cost of UCO is frequently higher than palm oil. The concern is that some dishonest traders are simply watering down 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 specialists believe scams is rife.

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

"It is extensively known 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 combination of modified accreditation schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability issues develop in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

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

The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and air travel aiming to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, need for UCO could double over the next decade.

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and threats of utilizing 'fake' UCO, possibly resulting in indirect impacts such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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