Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research concerns the ecological impact of increasing imports of used cooking oil (UCO) into the UK and Europe.

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

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

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

Without any testing of what's coming in, professionals believe it is likewise ripe for fraud.

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

They've encouraged using biofuels as an important methods of curbing carbon from cars 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 indicates they counteract the carbon given off when used in engines.

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

So for the last years approximately, the usage of used cooking oil has actually broadened enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become an essential part of biodiesel with an effective industry emerging across Europe to collect and process the item.

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

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

Their research study recommends this is extremely troublesome when it comes to effect on the .

While UCO is considered a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been used to feed animals. The report raises the question of what individuals in these countries 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 readily available but the circulation of UCO is most 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 contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million individuals, managed to collect around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

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

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

Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of need from Europe, the cost of UCO is typically greater than palm oil. The concern is that some unethical traders are just watering down 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 experts think scams is rife.

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

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

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

"The mix of modified accreditation 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 concerned that the database idea, which was first mooted in 2018, might not be effective in stemming suspected scams.

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

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and threats of utilizing 'phony' UCO, possibly resulting in indirect effects such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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