Quote (zorzin @ 6 Oct 2023 19:41)
You should have quoted the whole article. Looks like gutter oil is nice and sustainable.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/bidens-ira-drives-surge-us-imports-chinese-used-cooking-oil-2023-09-22/Do I smell someone shitting his pants again?
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Used cooking oil can be refined into fuels such as biodiesel and SAF, which can be blended with conventional fuels to reduce carbon emissions. It is also a feedstock for renewable diesel, which is chemically equivalent to petroleum-based diesel.
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The growth in the trade is "basically economically driven because of the funding of these programs and also the growth in these new facilities that have been invested into in the U.S. starting to come online and ramp up production," said Sophie Byron, global head of biofuels pricing at S&P Global Commodity Insights.
In the U.S., renewable diesel is mostly used in California because of its Low Carbon Fuel Standard that allows producers to generate tradable credits for using low-carbon feedstocks such as UCO.
State-run Chinese oil majors Sinopec and PetroChina, which are among those shipping UCO cargoes to the U.S., according to Kpler, did not respond to requests for comment.
Under the IRA, biodiesel producers are eligible for a $1 per gallon tax credit. A new tax credit for SAF producers offers up to $1.75 per gallon, with additional credits for fuel achieving a lifecycle carbon reduction of greater than 50%.
Used cooking oil can be one-third the price of fresh vegetable oil, and has lower carbon intensity than non-waste feedstocks such as palm or canola oil.
Biodiesel produced from UCO has slightly lower energy content than petroleum diesel but cuts greenhouse gas pollution by as much as 83%, according to a 2022 study by the Argonne National Laboratory in the U.S.
China is the world's largest producer of UCO, generating around 11.4 billion litres annually, according to data cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), but the lack of domestic policy support has limited its use in the country.
This post was edited by Malopox on Oct 6 2023 12:08pm