Climate modification: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel
21 April 2021
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New research concerns the ecological 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 utilized to make biodiesel it conserves 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 other way to prove these imports are sustainable.
With no screening of what's coming in, experts think it is also ripe for scams.
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Reducing emissions from transportation is proving to be among the most difficult difficulties for federal governments all over the world.
They've motivated using biofuels as an essential means of suppressing carbon from and lorries.
Biofuels are normally a blend of fossil fuel and oil made from plants or veggies.
The truth that these crops can be re-grown and take in more CO2 means they cancel out the carbon emitted when utilized in engines.
Soy and palm oil were once extensively utilized as elements of biodiesel but this practice has actually been extensively challenged since it encourages logging.
So for the last years approximately, the usage of utilized cooking oil has actually broadened massively as an alternative feedstock for fuel.
Chip fat and other waste oils have actually become a key part of biodiesel with a reliable industry emerging across Europe to gather and process the product.
But with the amount of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year considering that 2014, there simply isn't adequate chip fat to go around.
According to a report from the campaign group Transport & Environment, external, over half of the UCO utilized in Europe is imported.
Their research study recommends this is highly problematic when it pertains to 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 individuals 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 nations aren't readily available but the circulation of UCO is likely to be similar.
With a population of around 33 million, that's close to three litres per head of used oil that's gathered and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.
By contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million people, handled to collect around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.
"Because we are buying it, they have less used cooking oil to use on the things that they were previously using it for," stated Greg Archer with Transport & Environment.
"And they're simply buying more virgin oil which virgin oil is mainly palm oil, because that's the most affordable oil readily available.
"So indirectly, we're simply encouraging more logging in Southeast Asia."
Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.
Because of need from Europe, the cost of UCO is frequently greater than palm oil. The concern is that some unscrupulous traders are merely diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.
As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the products is carried out, some specialists believe fraud is rife.
The recommendation of scams anywhere along the chain of supply is rejected by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who state there are robust certification plans in place.
"It is commonly known that the European Commission has actually taken relevant steps to entirely curb 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 guarantee that trading, accreditation and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will need to be signed up.
"The mix of revised accreditation 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 worried that the database concept, which was first mooted in 2018, might not be effective in stemming presumed scams.
The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and air travel aiming to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, demand for UCO could double over the next years.
"Rising the demand beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these concerns, and risks of utilizing 'phony' 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
Marquita Sallee edited this page 2025-01-12 19:03:48 +01:00