Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel
21 April 2021
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New research study questions the environmental impact of rising 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 saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.
But such is the demand across Europe that imports now 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.
Without any testing of what's being available in, professionals think it is likewise ripe for fraud.
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Reducing emissions from transport is proving to be one of the toughest obstacles for governments all over the world.
They have actually motivated making use of biofuels as an important means of suppressing carbon from vehicles and trucks.
Biofuels are usually a mix of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or vegetables.
The fact that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 implies they cancel out the carbon given off when used in engines.
Soy and palm oil were when commonly used as elements of biodiesel however this practice has actually been extensively rejected since it encourages deforestation.
So for the last decade or so, making use of utilized cooking oil has actually expanded enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.
Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a crucial component of biodiesel with an effective industry springing up across Europe to gather and process the product.
But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year given that 2014, there just 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 used in Europe is imported.
Their research study recommends this is extremely troublesome when it comes to impacts on the environment.
While UCO is considered a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been utilized 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 available but the flow 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 individuals, managed to gather around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.
"Because we are purchasing it, they have actually less utilized cooking oil to use on the important things that they were formerly utilizing it for," stated Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.
"And they're just purchasing more virgin oil which virgin oil is largely palm oil, since that's the most inexpensive oil available.
"So indirectly, we're simply encouraging 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 often higher than palm oil. The concern is that some unethical 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 products is brought out, some experts think scams is rife.
The recommendation of fraud anywhere along the chain of supply is declined by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who say there are robust accreditation plans in location.
"It is extensively known that the European Commission has actually taken relevant steps to entirely curb unsound market practices in biofuel markets," said Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.
He states a new database being established by the EU will make sure 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 make sure that no sustainability concerns occur in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he told BBC News.
Others in the field are concerned that the database idea, which was very first mooted in 2018, might not be efficient in stemming believed fraud.
The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and air travel aiming to decarbonise by using biofuels, need for UCO could double over the next years.
"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and dangers of using 'fake' UCO, potentially causing indirect impacts such as logging."
Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.
Related subjects
COP26
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Climate Change: Growing Doubts Over Chip Fat Biofuel
Erin Hartnett edited this page 2025-01-11 21:42:37 +08:00