Climate change: Growing doubts over chip fat biofuel
21 April 2021
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New research study concerns the ecological effect of increasing imports of used 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 need throughout Europe that imports now represent majority of the UCO that's made into fuel.
According to the research study, external, there's no other way to prove these imports are sustainable.
With no testing of what's can be found in, specialists believe it is also ripe for fraud.
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Reducing emissions from transportation is proving to be among the most difficult challenges for governments all over the world.
They have actually encouraged using biofuels as an essential 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 fact that these crops can be re-grown and absorb more CO2 implies they counteract the carbon given off when used in engines.
Soy and palm oil were once extensively utilized as parts of biodiesel however this practice has actually been widely rejected since it encourages logging.
So for the last decade or two, making use of utilized cooking oil has broadened enormously as an alternative feedstock for fuel.
Chip fat and other waste oils have become a key element of biodiesel with a reliable industry emerging across Europe to gather and process the product.
But with the quantity of biodiesel made from UCO increasing by around 40% every year given that 2014, there merely isn't adequate 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 suggests this is highly problematic when it concerns effect on the environment.
While UCO is considered a waste product in the UK, in China, Indonesia and Malaysia it has long been used to feed animals. The report raises the concern of what individuals in these nations 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 readily available but the circulation of UCO is most likely to be similar.
With a population of around 33 million, that's close to 3 litres per head of used oil that's collected and exported to the UK and Ireland alone.
By contrast, Thailand, which has a population of 70 million individuals, handled to gather around 5 million litres of UCO in 2019.
"Because we are purchasing it, they have actually less used cooking oil to utilize on the things that they were formerly using it for," Archer with Transport & Environment.
"And they're simply buying more virgin oil which virgin oil is mostly palm oil, since that's the cheapest oil readily available.
"So indirectly, we're simply motivating more deforestation in Southeast Asia."
Another significant problem with UCO is the suspicion of scams.
Because of need from Europe, the price of UCO is frequently greater than palm oil. The worry is that some dishonest traders are simply diluting deliveries of UCO with palm.
As oils of various types are blended in bulk for transportation, and no testing of the materials is carried out, some specialists think fraud is rife.
The suggestion of scams anywhere along the chain of supply is rejected by the European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), who say there are robust accreditation schemes in location.
"It is commonly understood that the European Commission has taken relevant actions to totally 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 ensure that trading, accreditation and sustainability data on all bio-liquids will need to be registered.
"The mix of revised accreditation plans and the pan-EU track and trace database will ensure that no sustainability issues occur 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, may not work in stemming presumed fraud.
The report from Transport & Environment explains that with shipping and air travel wanting to decarbonise by utilizing biofuels, need for UCO might double over the next years.
"Rising the need beyond sustainable supply levels would increase these issues, and dangers of using 'fake' UCO, potentially leading to indirect effects such as deforestation."
Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc, external.
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Climate Change: Growing Doubts Over Chip Fat Biofuel
Shari Vest edited this page 2025-01-12 00:11:42 +00:00