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‘Pigs do fly’: Growing use of animal fats in cars and planes increasingly unsustainable

(Transport and Environment, 31 May 2023) 8,800 dead pigs needed to fuel a flight from Paris to New York raising concerns over the availability of ‘waste’ biofuels like animal fats, seen as panacea for cleaning up Europe’s transport system

Europe’s growing use of animal fats to power its cars and planes is becoming increasingly unsustainable, a new study on behalf of Transport & Environment (T&E) shows. The green group calls for greater transparency so that consumers know what is going into their tanks and fuelling their flights.

Use of animal fat biodiesel has doubled in the past decade  and is 40 times higher than it was in 2006. European lawmakers have been promoting the by-product of industrial meat farming as a way of reducing the carbon impact of transport fuels.They are now setting their sights on planes – and to a lesser extent ships. However, there is not enough to go around. Nearly half of all European animal fats already go into biodiesel, despite being used extensively in the pet food, soaps and cosmetics industries. With the burning of animal fat biofuels set to triple by 2030, there will not be enough to scale it up sustainably, warns T&E.

Barbara Smailagic, biofuels expert at T&E, said: “It turns out pigs will fly.  For years we’ve been burning animal fats in cars without drivers knowing. Now they will be fuelling your next flight. But that can’t be sustained without depriving other sectors, which will in turn likely switch to damaging alternatives like palm oil. We need greater transparency so that consumers know what is going into their tanks and fuelling their flights.”

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Transport and Environment, 31 May 2023: ‘Pigs do fly’: Growing use of animal fats in cars and planes increasingly unsustainable