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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 utilized cooking oil (UCO) into the UK and Europe.

Chip fat and other oils are thought about waste, so when they are utilized to make it conserves 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 show these imports are sustainable.

Without any testing of what's coming in, specialists think it is also ripe for scams.

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Reducing emissions from transport is proving to be among the most difficult difficulties for governments all over the world.

They've encouraged using biofuels as a crucial methods of suppressing carbon from cars and trucks.

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

The reality that these crops can be re-grown and soak up more CO2 implies they cancel out the carbon given off when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were as soon as extensively used as parts of biodiesel however this practice has actually been widely rejected due to the fact that it encourages deforestation.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a crucial element of biodiesel with a reliable industry 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 because 2014, there just isn't enough 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 research study recommends this is extremely bothersome when it concerns effects on the environment.

While UCO is thought about a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been utilized to feed animals. The report raises the question of what individuals 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 offered but the flow of UCO is most likely to be similar.

With a population of around 33 million, that's close to three litres per head of used oil that's collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

By comparison, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million individuals, handled to collect around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are buying it, they have less used cooking oil to use on the things that they were previously utilizing it for," stated Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

"And they're simply buying more virgin oil and that virgin oil is largely palm oil, because that's the cheapest oil offered.

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

Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of fraud.

Because of need from Europe, the cost of UCO is often greater than palm oil. The worry is that some dishonest traders are simply watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no screening of the products is performed, some specialists believe fraud is swarming.

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

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

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

"The combination of revised accreditation schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability issues occur in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.

Others in the field are worried that the database idea, which was very first mooted in 2018, may not be efficient in stemming suspected fraud.

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

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and threats of using 'phony' UCO, potentially causing indirect effects such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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