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Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research concerns the ecological impact of increasing imports of utilized 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 conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need throughout Europe that imports now account for more than half of the UCO that's made into fuel.

According to the research study, external, there's no other way to show these imports are sustainable.

With no screening of what's being available in, professionals think it is likewise ripe for fraud.

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from transport is proving to be among the hardest difficulties for governments all over the world.

They have actually motivated using biofuels as a crucial methods of curbing carbon from cars and trucks and lorries.

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

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and soak up more CO2 suggests they cancel out the carbon released when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were when extensively used as components of biodiesel but this practice has actually been commonly challenged due to the fact that it encourages logging.

So for the last decade approximately, using utilized cooking oil has expanded enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have become an essential component of biodiesel with an efficient industry emerging throughout Europe to collect and process the item.

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 go around.

According to a report from the campaign group Transport & Environment, external, more than half of the UCO utilized in Europe is imported.

Their research study suggests this is highly problematic when it concerns effects on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been used to feed animals. The report raises the question of what people in these nations 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 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 contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, managed to collect around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are buying it, they have less used cooking oil to utilize on the things that they were previously utilizing it for," said 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 inexpensive 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 need from Europe, the rate of UCO is often greater than palm oil. The concern is that some dishonest traders are just watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transport, and no testing of the materials is performed, some professionals believe scams 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 plans in place.

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

He states a brand-new database being developed by the EU will guarantee that trading, accreditation and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will need to be registered.

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

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

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

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and risks of utilizing 'phony' UCO, possibly resulting in indirect impacts such as deforestation."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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