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Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel

21 April 2021

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New research questions the ecological effect 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 utilized to make biodiesel it saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.

But such is the need throughout Europe that imports now represent majority of the UCO that's made into fuel.

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

With no testing of what's coming in, professionals think it is likewise ripe for fraud.

Used cooking oil imports may increase deforestation

'growing hazard' to tropical forests

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

They've encouraged using biofuels as an important methods of curbing carbon from vehicles and lorries.

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

The fact that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 means they counteract the carbon produced when utilized in engines.

Soy and palm oil were when extensively used as elements of biodiesel but this practice has been commonly rejected since it encourages deforestation.

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

Chip fat and other waste oils have ended up being an essential component of biodiesel with an efficient industry springing up throughout Europe to gather and process the item.

But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year because 2014, there simply isn't sufficient 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 suggests this is extremely bothersome when it concerns effects 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 question 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 offered however 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 utilized oil that's gathered and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.

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

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

"And they're simply purchasing more virgin oil which virgin oil is largely palm oil, since that's the most affordable oil offered.

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

Another major problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.

Because of demand from Europe, the rate of UCO is typically 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 transport, and no screening of the products is carried out, some specialists believe 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 schemes in place.

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

He says a new database being developed by the EU will guarantee that trading, certification and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will have to be registered.

"The mix of modified certification schemes and the pan-EU track and trace database will guarantee that no sustainability concerns arise in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.

Others in the field are concerned that the database idea, which was first mooted in 2018, may not work in stemming suspected scams.

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

"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and risks of using 'fake' UCO, possibly resulting in indirect effects such as logging."

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.

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