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Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research concerns the environmental 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 saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the demand 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 chance to show these imports are sustainable.

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

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Reducing emissions from transport is showing to be one of the hardest obstacles for governments all over the world.

They have actually encouraged making use of biofuels as an important methods of suppressing carbon from cars and trucks.

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

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

Soy and palm oil were when commonly used as components of biodiesel however this practice has actually been extensively rejected since it encourages logging.

So for the last decade or two, using used cooking oil has actually broadened enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being an essential part of biodiesel with an efficient industry emerging 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 simply isn't sufficient chip fat to go around.

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

Their research study suggests this is extremely bothersome when it pertains to impacts on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been utilized to feed animals. The report raises the question of what individuals 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 nations aren't offered however the circulation 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, managed to gather around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are buying it, they have less used cooking oil to utilize 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 which virgin oil is largely palm oil, since that's the least expensive oil offered.

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

Another major issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of demand from Europe, the price of UCO is frequently greater than palm oil. The worry is that some unscrupulous traders are simply diluting shipments of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the materials is carried out, some professionals think fraud is rife.

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

"It is commonly understood that the European Commission has taken appropriate steps to totally 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 information on all bio-liquids will have to be registered.

"The mix of revised certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will guarantee that no sustainability issues arise 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, might not work in stemming suspected fraud.

The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and air travel aiming to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, need for UCO could double over the next years.

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and risks of utilizing 'fake' UCO, potentially leading to indirect impacts such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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