Demand is increasing for Asia’s used cooking oil as alternative marine bunker fuel.
Global resources company BHP conducted the first marine biofuels trial in Singapore in April 2021 from biofuels pioneer GoodFuels.
In early July, Singapore Airlines and Scoot started fueling up with blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at Changi Airport.
SAF is supplied by Neste at ExxonMobil’s Singapore facilities. Meanwhile, used cooking is a significant feedstock in the production of SAF, with China being a major supply source.
Interest in Chinese UCO methylester (UCOME) started in 2018 with 573,653 tonnes in exports.
Most of the exports went to the EU, while packaging was initially done in flexibag containers.
In 2021, the market shifted toward bulk shipment as major players increased storage capacities across the mainland to facilitate transportation.
By 2021, China’s UCO exports jumped over one million tonnes. Most of China’s UCO exports were sent to Spain, Netherlands, Germany and Italy to meet the EU biodiesel mandate.
Meanwhile, Singapore has also been on the receiving end of UCO from China.
In 2021, UCO exports from China to Singapore reached 205,497 tonnes, a significant increase of 9,816 tonnes in 2019.
Although China has not utilised its UCO potential, countries such as India, Philippines and Vietnam are potential places where UCO may be sourced.
