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 used 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 across 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 show these imports are sustainable.
With no screening of what's can be found in, professionals believe it is likewise ripe for scams.
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Reducing emissions from transport is showing to be one of the toughest challenges for federal governments all over the world.
They've motivated the usage of biofuels as an important ways of curbing carbon from vehicles and lorries.
Biofuels are typically a blend of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or vegetables.
The reality that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 indicates they cancel out the carbon released when utilized in engines.
Soy and palm oil were as soon as extensively utilized as elements of biodiesel but this practice has been widely rejected since it encourages deforestation.
So for the last decade or two, the use of oil has expanded massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.
Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become an essential component of biodiesel with a reliable market emerging throughout Europe to gather and process the item.
But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year because 2014, there simply isn't sufficient chip fat to go around.
According to a report from the project group Transport & Environment, external, over half of the UCO utilized in Europe is imported.
Their study recommends this is highly problematic when it concerns impacts on the environment.
While UCO is considered a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been used to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what people in these countries are replacing 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 three 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 individuals, managed to collect around five million litres of UCO in 2019.
"Because we are buying it, they have less used cooking oil to use on the important things that they were previously utilizing it for," stated Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.
"And they're just buying more virgin oil and that virgin oil is mostly palm oil, since that's the most affordable oil readily available.
"So indirectly, we're just motivating more logging in Southeast Asia."
Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.
Because of need from Europe, the price of UCO is typically greater than palm oil. The concern is that some unethical traders are just diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.
As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the products is performed, some experts believe fraud is rife.
The tip of scams anywhere along the chain of supply is turned down by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who say there are robust certification schemes in place.
"It is extensively known that the European Commission has actually taken appropriate actions to entirely suppress unsound market practices in biofuel markets," stated Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.
He states a brand-new database being developed by the EU will guarantee that trading, certification and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will have to be signed up.
"The combination of modified accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability problems occur 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, may not work in stemming thought fraud.
The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and air travel seeking 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 using 'fake' UCO, possibly resulting in indirect effects such as deforestation."
Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.
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Climate Change: Growing Doubts Over Chip Fat Biofuel
Robby Nez edited this page 2 weeks ago