Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel
21 April 2021
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New research study concerns the environmental impact 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 used to make biodiesel it saves carbon emissions by displacing fossil oil.
But such is the need 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 prove these imports are sustainable.
With no testing of what's can be found in, professionals think it is likewise ripe for scams.
Used cooking oil imports might boost deforestation
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Reducing emissions from transport is proving to be among the hardest challenges for governments all over the world.
They've encouraged making use of biofuels as a crucial methods of curbing carbon from automobiles and trucks.
Biofuels are usually a blend of nonrenewable fuel source and oil made from plants or vegetables.
The truth that these crops can be re-grown and soak up more CO2 implies they counteract the carbon released when used in engines.
Soy and palm oil were once commonly utilized as parts of biodiesel however this practice has been commonly rejected since it motivates logging.
So for the last decade approximately, using utilized cooking oil has actually expanded enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.
Chip fat and other waste oils have become a key part of biodiesel with an efficient industry springing up across Europe to collect and process the product.
But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year given 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 used in Europe is imported.
Their study recommends this is highly troublesome when it concerns effects on the environment.
While UCO is thought about a waste material in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has actually long been utilized to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what individuals in these countries are replacing the UCO with, when it is exported.
In 2019, 90 million litres of UCO to the UK and Ireland. Figures for their exports to other European countries aren't readily available but the flow of UCO is likely to be similar.
With a population of around 33 million, that's close to 3 litres per head of utilized oil that's collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.
By contrast, 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 actually less utilized cooking oil to use on the things that they were formerly utilizing it for," stated Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.
"And they're just buying more virgin oil which virgin oil is largely palm oil, because that's the most inexpensive oil offered.
"So indirectly, we're simply motivating more deforestation in Southeast Asia."
Another significant issue with UCO is the suspicion of scams.
Because of need from Europe, the rate of UCO is typically greater than palm oil. The concern is that some deceitful traders are merely watering down deliveries of UCO with palm.
As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no screening of the products is performed, some professionals believe scams is rife.
The idea of scams anywhere along the chain of supply is rejected by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who state there are robust accreditation schemes in place.
"It is extensively understood that the European Commission has actually taken appropriate actions to totally suppress unsound market practices in biofuel markets," stated Angel Alberdi, EWABA's secretary general.
He says a brand-new database being established by the EU will ensure that trading, certification and sustainability information on all bio-liquids will have to be registered.
"The combination of revised certification plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability issues develop in the entire biofuels and bio-liquids supply chain," he informed BBC News.
Others in the field are concerned that the database concept, which was first mooted in 2018, might not work in stemming presumed fraud.
The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and aviation wanting to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, demand for UCO might double over the next decade.
"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and dangers of using 'fake' UCO, potentially resulting in indirect impacts such as logging."
Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.
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Climate Change: Growing Doubts Over Chip Fat Biofuel
Sadie Longmore edited this page 2025-01-11 14:41:58 +01:00