1 Climate Change: Growing Doubts Over Chip Fat Biofuel

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Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study concerns the environmental impact of increasing imports of utilized 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 need across Europe that imports now account for 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.

With no screening of what's can be found in, experts believe it is likewise ripe for scams.

Used cooking oil imports may boost deforestation

Consumers present 'growing hazard' to tropical forests

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

They've motivated the usage of biofuels as an essential methods of suppressing carbon from cars and trucks.

Biofuels are normally a mix of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or veggies.

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

Soy and palm oil were when widely used as components of biodiesel however this practice has been commonly rejected because it motivates logging.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually ended up being a crucial component of biodiesel with an efficient industry emerging across Europe to collect and process the product.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year considering that 2014, there simply 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 used in Europe is imported.

Their this is highly troublesome when it comes to influence on the environment.

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 concern of what people 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 available but the circulation of UCO is likely to be comparable.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to 3 litres per head of utilized 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 actually less utilized cooking oil to utilize on the things that they were formerly using it for," said Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

"And they're simply purchasing more virgin oil which virgin oil is largely palm oil, since that's the least expensive oil available.

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

Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of demand from Europe, the cost of UCO is frequently higher than palm oil. The concern is that some deceitful traders are simply watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of different types are blended in bulk for transport, and no screening of the products is performed, some experts think fraud is rife.

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

"It is commonly known that the European Commission has taken appropriate steps to entirely curb unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

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

"The combination of revised accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability concerns occur in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

Others in the field are worried that the database concept, which was very first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming presumed scams.

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

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and dangers of using 'phony' UCO, possibly leading to indirect impacts such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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