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Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study questions the ecological impact 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 used to make biodiesel it saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the demand throughout Europe that imports now represent more than half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

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

Used cooking oil imports might enhance logging

'growing danger' to tropical forests

Reducing emissions from transportation is showing to be one of the most difficult challenges for governments all over the world.

They've motivated the use of biofuels as an essential means of curbing carbon from automobiles and trucks.

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

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and soak up more CO2 implies they counteract the carbon emitted when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were once extensively utilized as components of biodiesel but this practice has been widely rejected due to the fact that it motivates deforestation.

So for the last decade approximately, the use of used cooking oil has actually broadened massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a key part of biodiesel with a reliable industry emerging across Europe to gather and process the product.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year because 2014, there just isn't enough chip fat to go around.

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

Their study suggests this is highly problematic when it concerns influence on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste material 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 countries aren't available however the flow of UCO is likely to be comparable.

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, handled to gather around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are purchasing it, they have less used cooking oil to utilize on the important 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 inexpensive oil readily available.

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

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of need from Europe, the rate of UCO is typically higher than palm oil. The concern is that some unethical traders are just diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are mixed in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the products is performed, some experts believe scams is swarming.

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

"It is widely known that the European Commission has actually taken appropriate 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 guarantee that trading, accreditation and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will need to be registered.

"The mix of revised certification schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability problems 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 very first mooted in 2018, might not work in stemming suspected fraud.

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

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and risks of utilizing 'phony' UCO, potentially leading to indirect effects such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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