mission-biofuels-india-private-ltd

Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

comments

354 Comments

New research study questions the environmental effect of rising imports of used cooking oil (UCO) into the UK and Europe.

Chip fat and other oils are considered waste, so when they are utilized to make biodiesel it saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the demand throughout Europe that imports now account for more than half 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 screening of what's coming in, experts think it is also ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports might improve deforestation

Consumers present 'growing risk' to tropical forests

Reducing emissions from transport is showing to be among the most difficult challenges for federal governments all over the world.

They have actually motivated using biofuels as a crucial means of suppressing carbon from automobiles and trucks.

Biofuels are normally a blend of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or vegetables.

The reality that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 means they cancel out the carbon released when used in engines.

Soy and palm oil were when extensively utilized as parts of biodiesel however this practice has actually been commonly challenged because it motivates logging.

So for the last years or two, making use of utilized cooking oil has expanded enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a key component of biodiesel with a reliable market 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 since 2014, there merely isn't adequate chip fat to walk around.

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

Their research study recommends this is extremely troublesome when it pertains to influence 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 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 aren't available but the flow of UCO is most likely to be comparable.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to 3 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 people, handled to collect around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are buying it, they have 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 just buying more virgin oil and that virgin oil is mainly palm oil, since that's the cheapest oil offered.

"So indirectly, we're simply encouraging more logging in Southeast Asia."

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of need from Europe, the cost of UCO is typically higher than palm oil. The concern is that some dishonest traders are merely diluting shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no testing of the materials is carried out, some professionals believe fraud is rife.

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

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

He states a brand-new database being developed by the EU will guarantee that trading, accreditation and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will have to be signed up.

"The combination of modified certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability issues develop in the whole 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 reliable in stemming believed fraud.

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

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and risks of using 'phony' UCO, potentially resulting in indirect effects such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

Related topics

COP26

Paris environment contract

Climate