The Transport and Environment (T&E) organisation published a report on Thursday 16 July in which it put forward a series of recommendations relating to the aviation sector in light of the European Commission's legislative proposal, Refuel EU.
This initiative to develop alternative fuels was mentioned in particular in the European Commission's industrial strategy presented last March (see EUROPE 12412/7) and is expected by the end of 2020.
According to T&E, the European Commission will have to ensure that its legislative proposal meets three main principles in order to enable the aviation sector to move towards carbon neutrality.
It should, first of all, exclude crop-based biofuels and fuels that are based on recycled carbon, and should only include fuels that are fully sustainable.
“Advanced biofuels derived from truly waste and residue feed stocks are promising due to their ability to potentially deliver substantial emission reductions”, the report says, by way of example, but also points out that the availability of such fuels is limited and estimated to stand at around 11.4% of EU aviation demand by 2050.
T&E suggests that the European Commission proposal should also be supported with guarantees: on this point, the organisation deems it necessary, in particular, for the revised European 'Renewable Energy' Directive (RED II) be reviewed once again.
T&E considers this directive to contain “a number of flaws”. For example, it permits the use of raw materials such as tall oil and palm oil derivatives.
Finally, the European Commission should ensure that these fuels are both developed and used within sustainable limits.
The organisation notes that there is currently no significant market for alternative fuels and therefore advocates, among other things, the use of instruments such as Contracts for Difference (CfD) in order to support both supply and demand for these fuels.
To view the full report: https://bit.ly/392Bibj (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)