On Monday 27 June, MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport (‘TRAN’) adopted the report by Søren Gade (Renew Europe, Denmark) on the deployment of sustainable fuels in the aviation sector (‘ReFuelEU Aviation’) (25 votes in favour, 6 against, 3 abstentions) (see EUROPE 12964/3).
“I am proud that the Transport Committee has decided to upgrade the Commission’s proposal to decarbonise aviation and to make it much more ambitious when it comes to the fuel blending mandate, new fuel generation technologies, the inclusion of many more airports and a truly sustainable definition of sustainable aviation fuels”, the rapporteur summarised.
The adopted text now includes in the definition of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), in addition to electricity and hydrogen, fuels produced from waste treatment gases and exhaust gases from the production process in industrial plants.
Some biofuels made from animal fats could also be used in the blending of sustainable aviation fuels. However, the use of the latter would be limited in time and would end in 2034.
In addition, the adopted text also goes back on the timetable, increasing the minimum share of SAF in the overall mix to 2% from 2025, to 37% in 2040, then to 85% in 2050. The Commission’s initial proposal was for a share of 32% in 2040 and 63% in 2050.
The report also calls for the creation of a new Sustainable Aviation Fund for the period 2023-2050. It would be half financed by the amount of the penalties generated by the bad or non-application of the regulation and half by the auctioning of emission allowances from the aviation sector. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)