- 5 hours ago
Di seluruh dunia, minyak masak terpakai semakin berubah daripada sisa buangan kepada sumber biofuel strategik, dipacu oleh kenaikan harga bahan api, gangguan geopolitik dan sasaran penyahkarbonan yang lebih ketat. Dengan permintaan meningkat daripada sektor penerbangan, perkapalan dan pengangkutan, tumpuan kini beralih kepada cabaran skala, integriti bahan mentah, daya maju ekonomi serta potensi biofuel berasaskan sisa untuk menjadi tonggak sebenar dalam peralihan tenaga global dan daya tahan tenaga negara.
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00:00On related news around the world, used cooking oil is rapidly shifting from waste to strategic energy-fit stock,
00:06driven by rising fuel prices, geopolitical disruption and stricter decarbonization targets.
00:12Demand for waste-based biofuels has surged as airlines, shipping lines and transport sectors look for emitted low-carbon alternatives,
00:21even as countries face tightening energy security and supply chain risk linked to conflicts and choke points.
00:27So in this landscape, converting use, cooking oil into biofuel is no longer just a sustainability story.
00:33It is increasingly about energy resilience, industrial competitiveness and behavioral change at scale.
00:39So with governments and industries racing to secure, reliable fit stocks,
00:43critical questions are now emerging about scalability, integrity, economics and whether waste-based biofuels can move from niche solution to
00:52meaningful contributor in the global energy transition.
00:54So to unpack with me this morning, joining us virtually is Vinesh Sinha, the founder and also chief executive officer
01:01of Fat Hopes Energy.
01:02Good morning, Vinesh. Thank you so much for joining us online on Niaga Awani.
01:06To start off, we want to discuss on the strategic value of used cooking oil.
01:11On your opinion, used cooking oil was long treated as low-value waste and often disposed of irresponsibility.
01:18So at what point did you recognize it as a strategic energy resource, particularly as sectors like aviation begin looking
01:25at waste-based biofuel for sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF,
01:29and what systemic blind spots allowed such as a viable solution to be overlooked for so long?
01:35Please.
01:36Good morning.
01:37I recognized very early on, almost intuitively, that used cooking oil was not just a waste, but an underutilized energy
01:45resource.
01:46Back then, it was largely discarded without much thought.
01:49What the world overlooked was that the material already had a high level of embedded energy, and with the right
01:57systems, it could be recovered, reused efficiently.
02:01The blind spots was quite systematic.
02:04Waste was never viewed through the lens of energy security or decarbonization.
02:08It set a gap between industries, not just waste management industry, but also the energy industry.
02:15Only now, as aviation and other sectors look for scale or scalable solutions in low-carbon fuels, are we able
02:23to begin to see the true strategic value of these materials.
02:27So, in a nutshell, really, I think it's been a culmination of several factors.
02:32The evolution of technology that heightened awareness on sustainability, and now, of course, the pressures on energy that has really
02:41brought these waste streams to the forefront to offer an alternative to conventional fossil fuels.
02:47Vinesh, it is very timely to discuss on this topic as global energy supply chains grew more vulnerable to geopolitical
02:54shocks.
02:55And how meaningful can used cooking oil-based biofuel be in strengthening national energy security, in your opinion?
03:02And with aviation especially exposed to fuel price volatility, can decentralised waste-based feedstocks materially reduce exposure to external oil
03:10disruptions?
03:11Or is their role inherently limited?
03:13What's your thoughts on that?
03:16Used cooking oil and waste-based biofuel feedstocks more broadly play a meaningful role, we believe, in strengthening energy security.
03:23But it's important to be realistic about what role it's here to play, right?
03:29They will not replace fossil fuel entirely, but they can significantly diversify our supply chain.
03:35And for aviation specifically, which is highly exposed to global fuel price volatility, decentralisation of feedstock, decentralisation of sourcing offers
03:45something very important, and that's resilience.
03:48I think as time goes by, a priority for resilience is starting to grow.
03:52And that is one key differentiation factor.
03:57Instead of relying on a few concentrated sources of crude oil, we are now tapping into thousands of distributed sources
04:04of waste.
04:05And that doesn't eliminate exposure, but it reduces concentration risk and creates a more balanced and secure energy system due
04:13to the decentralisation of the supply chain over time.
04:16But now that, like you mentioned, the demand for biofuel growth, including from alliance seeking sustainable aviation fuel, concerns have
04:24emerged globally about feedstock integrity, including the illegal diversion of virgin oils into waste streams.
04:30So, how does the industry ensure scale without compromising ethics at the same time?
04:34And what safeguards are essential to prevent a repeat of failures that's seen in earlier biofuel models?
04:42Yeah, so I think I'll take it a little bit back to two responses here.
04:47Number one is, if we have a priority of decarbonisation, we should evaluate feedstocks based on their carbon intensity.
04:54Any bio-based solution will be more efficient from a carbon standpoint as compared to fossil fuels, number one.
05:01Number two, where we are today in the global energy spectrum or map, key, I think, priorities today is in
05:12secaritisation of the energy supply chain.
05:15So, again, evaluating the raw materials based on these criterias instead of us just having one criteria, which is sustainability.
05:24Now, coming to the third criteria of sustainability and integrity of feedstock within the SAF or biofuel supply chain,
05:32this, we believe, is an extremely critical issue that the industry is facing.
05:36As demand grows, the risk of compromising feedstock integrity becomes very real.
05:41It's a problem we've been trying to mitigate since the inception of the business in 2010.
05:45We understood that traceability and transparency was key.
05:48We've already seen cases globally where oils are misclassified, which undermines both environmental credibility as well as market trust.
05:56The only way to scale this responsibly is through a robust traceability system that has a decent level of enforcement.
06:05Every litre of feedstock that is collected needs to be accounted for from the point of origin till where it's
06:12utilised.
06:13And this requires, in our opinion, the only way to do it is through a digital solution that relies or
06:19that is compliant to certification frameworks around the world,
06:22which need to bring in strong regulatory frameworks or enforcement because overnight this is not going to change.
06:29So, the way we look at it is having a supply chain that is visible through a digital solution or
06:35digital app stack that we have already developed and deployed across Southeast Asia since 2016
06:40is the only way for us to ensure that there is visibility and every stakeholder of the industry has the
06:45option to scrutinise that supply chain
06:48and to make decisions for themselves whether they believe it meets their sustainability requirements or not.
06:53All right, Vinesh, with that concern, I want to see the comparison or the differences on commercial viability versus the
06:59fossil fuel volatility.
07:01So, we see that many green solutions struggle without government incentives.
07:05So, from your experience at Fathopes, can converting used cooking oil into biofuel remain commercially viable without long-term subsidies,
07:14especially when aviation food markets are shaped by extreme geopolitical price swings,
07:18or does the sector still require policy protection to compete with fossil fuels?
07:24So, from our experience, used cooking oil-based biofuels can absolutely be commercially viable.
07:29But context matters, right?
07:31In the early years, biofuels was adopted because they were both cleaner and at that time even more cost-effective
07:36than fossil fuel.
07:37So, used cooking oil starts its life as a waste.
07:41What's that value of the waste?
07:4280% of waste-based biofuel is actually the feedstock.
07:47And if a waste material does not have an indiscriminate value, if the value attributed to that is purely on
07:55aggregation costs
07:56and the cost of bringing these volumes together, we believe it can be extremely competitive and viable.
08:02Today, the challenge is not just cost, it's volatility.
08:06Fossil fuel prices can swing dramatically due to geopolitical factors, which make long-term planning difficult.
08:12Policy support does play a crucial role in helping the industry scale and stabilize, especially in its growth phase.
08:21However, over time, as the supply chain matures and scale improves, the sector can stand increasingly on its own fundamentals,
08:31particularly when you factor in energy security, carbon cost alongside the direct cost of the fuel in itself.
08:39Let's talk about impact, Vinish.
08:41We see that biofuels are often branded as inherently green, yet critics argue life cycle emissions like collection, transport and
08:49processing can dilute their climate benefits.
08:52So, for applications like sustainable aviation fuel, SAF, where scrutiny is intense, how do you assess the true carbon footprint
08:59of used cooking oil biofuel
09:00and what metrics should policymakers and investors rely on?
09:05Yeah, so first and foremost, I think we need to look at what are the alternatives, right?
09:09Alternatives to biofuels.
09:11And especially in the SAF industry, there are no alternatives.
09:14Today, SAF is the only drop-in based fuel that fits into existing infrastructure with no change, no new investments.
09:22Now, assessing it from that perspective, the true climate impact is important for us to look at the full life
09:29cycle.
09:30That is a very good index, the key index, not just its combustion, not just how much emissions does it
09:37emit as compared to fossil at the combustion stage.
09:41Used cooking oil-based SAF can deliver significant emissions reduction, often in the range of 70% to 90%
09:47compared to conventional jet fuel,
09:49on a life cycle basis, depending on how it's sourced and how it's produced, right?
09:53The key metrics policymakers and investors should rely on is life cycle intensity measured from collection, processing, transport, all the
10:02way to its end use.
10:04Equally important is traceability because the emissions benefit is only as credible as the integrity of the feedstock.
10:11We need to know where it's come from, how long it's traveled, so that we are able to attribute the
10:17correct volume or factor of emissions to the entire supply chain.
10:22Without that, even the best numbers lose their meaning.
10:27What about the adoptions?
10:28Because this industry depends on millions of small everyday decisions by restaurants, households and food operators.
10:34So what has been the most difficult behavioral barrier in pursuing people to treat a used cooking oil as valuable
10:41asset rather than waste,
10:42given that sectors like aviation are now relying on this feedstock?
10:46And how much of that challenge is cultural rather than economic?
10:51Yeah, so we started on this journey more than 20 years ago.
10:54And back then, making people understand or making the masses understand that there needs to be a proper disposal mechanism
11:02for these waste oils due to what it can be used for,
11:07was the challenge over the years.
11:09It's getting less and less as awareness builds.
11:13But for us, for a long time, used cooking oil was simply seen as a waste with no value.
11:19Changing that mindset from something that was discarded into something that we need to recover has taken a lot of
11:26time and a lot of work for us.
11:27And this is the area where being the first mover doesn't really give you a big advantage, right?
11:32It is partially or partly cultural, but also economics.
11:38Once people begin to see that there is value in what they were generating or what they were throwing away,
11:45behaviors slowly start to change.
11:47We've had to see this or wait for this year on year over the past 20 years.
11:51And I would say today it's not perfect, but it is in a much better place than it used to
11:56be.
11:56The challenge in building these systems or the challenges in building these systems to make it easy, to make it
12:03transparent,
12:04to make it accessible and worthwhile for people to participate has been something that we are grappling with.
12:10We experiment with various different methods to be able to entice consumers to dispose their oils in a better way
12:18and to engage with this thought.
12:20Now, at scale, this becomes less about awareness, but more about infrastructure.
12:26It took us a while to realize that it's a painful reality.
12:29But today we think in terms of infrastructure, how can we create seamless ways for households and businesses to contribute
12:35to the circular economy
12:37without needing to have a positive or a need for environmental impact,
12:43but because it's the right thing to do and it's the correct way to dispose your waste has always been
12:47our thought.
12:47Now, I would say that we are well on our way today and looking back, it has been a challenge,
12:53but I think behavioral change, we have achieved it.
12:57Vinesh, we have about two minutes left.
12:59I just want to include it in this question.
13:01If the technology is proven, environmental benefits are evident and demand is rising,
13:06including from sustainable aviation fuel mandates,
13:08what remains the single biggest bottleneck holding this industry back today?
13:12Is it regulation, infrastructure?
13:14What's your thoughts on that?
13:16Yeah, so there's still several challenges, but if I had to identify two of the biggest bottlenecks,
13:21it would be a combination of feedstock development and the speed of execution across the system
13:26in terms of developing of the infrastructure, right?
13:29The technology is proven, demand is clear.
13:32The environmental case is strong.
13:34What is needed now is alignment, policy that moves quickly,
13:37infrastructure that scales efficiently,
13:39and financing that understands the long-term opportunity,
13:43systems that ensure trust and transparency.
13:46At its core, it comes down to how seriously do we value this system and this alternative
13:52and waste as a resource.
13:55Once that mindset shifts at a systematic level,
13:58many other bottlenecks begin to resolve themselves.
14:01So I would say that don't wait for a crisis for us to want to prioritize alternatives.
14:07We need to start building ahead of crises so that these alternatives offer a proper and decent solution
14:15when the nation is in crisis.
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