Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel
21 April 2021
remarks
354 Comments
New research concerns the ecological impact of rising imports of utilized 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 conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.
But such is the demand throughout 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 chance to show these imports are sustainable.
With no screening of what's can be found in, experts believe it is also ripe for fraud.
Used cooking oil imports may increase deforestation
Consumers pose 'growing risk' to tropical forests
Reducing emissions from transport is proving to be among the hardest challenges for federal governments all over the world.
They've encouraged the use of biofuels as an important methods of curbing carbon from automobiles and lorries.
Biofuels are generally a mix of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or veggies.
The truth that these crops can be re-grown and soak up more CO2 suggests they counteract the carbon discharged when utilized in engines.
Soy and palm oil were when extensively used as elements of biodiesel but this practice has actually been commonly challenged since it encourages deforestation.
So for the last years approximately, using used cooking oil has broadened massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.
Chip fat and other waste oils have become a key component of biodiesel with a reliable industry springing up 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 just isn't adequate 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 research study recommends this is highly problematic when it pertains to effect 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 question 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 offered but the flow of UCO is likely to be similar.
With a population of around 33 million, that's close to three 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 people, managed to collect around five million litres of UCO in 2019.
"Because we are buying it, they have less utilized cooking oil to use on the things that they were formerly utilizing it for," stated Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.
"And they're just buying more virgin oil which virgin oil is largely palm oil, since that's the least expensive oil available.
"So indirectly, we're simply encouraging more logging in Southeast Asia."
Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.
Because of demand from Europe, the cost of UCO is frequently higher than palm oil. The worry is that some unscrupulous traders are simply diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.
As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no screening of the materials is performed, some experts think fraud is swarming.
The tip 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 actions to totally curb unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.
He says a brand-new database being developed by the EU will guarantee that trading, accreditation and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will need to be registered.
"The mix of revised accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will make sure that no sustainability issues develop in the whole biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.
Others in the field are worried that the database idea, which was first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming thought scams.
The report from Transport & Environment mentions that with shipping and air travel wanting 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 risks of utilizing 'phony' UCO, possibly leading to indirect impacts such as deforestation."
Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.
Related topics
COP26
Paris environment arrangement
Climate
1
Climate Change: Growing Doubts Over Chip Fat Biofuel
Cynthia Case edited this page 2025-01-11 23:48:07 +01:00