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Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research study questions the environmental effect of increasing imports of used cooking oil (UCO) into the UK and Europe.

Chip fat and other oils are considered waste, so when they are utilized to make biodiesel it conserves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need throughout 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 prove these imports are sustainable.

Without any screening of what's being available in, specialists believe it is likewise ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports might improve deforestation

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Reducing emissions from transportation is showing to be among the toughest difficulties for federal governments all over the world.

They've motivated making use of biofuels as a crucial methods of curbing carbon from cars and trucks.

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

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

Soy and palm oil were as soon as widely utilized as components of biodiesel however this practice has been widely rejected because it encourages deforestation.

So for the last years approximately, the use of used cooking oil has broadened enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.

Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a crucial component of biodiesel with an efficient industry springing up across Europe to gather and process the item.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year since 2014, there just isn't enough chip fat to go 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 comes to influence on the environment.

While UCO is considered a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been used to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what people 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 countries aren't available however the circulation of UCO is most likely to be comparable.

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 people, handled to gather around five million litres of UCO in 2019.

"Because we are purchasing it, they have less used cooking oil to utilize on the important things that they were formerly using it for," stated Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.

"And they're just purchasing more virgin oil which virgin oil is mostly palm oil, because 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 fraud.

Because of need from Europe, the rate of UCO is typically higher than palm oil. The concern is that some deceitful traders are simply watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.

As oils of various types are mixed in bulk for transport, and no testing of the products is performed, some experts think scams is swarming.

The recommendation of fraud 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 extensively known that the European Commission has actually taken pertinent actions to entirely market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.

He says a new database being developed by the EU will make sure that trading, certification and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will need to be signed up.

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

Others in the field are worried that the database concept, which was first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming believed scams.

The report from Transport & Environment points out that with shipping and aviation seeking to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, demand for UCO could double over the next years.

"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and dangers of utilizing 'fake' UCO, possibly causing indirect impacts such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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