The European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached an agreement on the evening of Tuesday 25 April on the ‘Refuel Aviation’ regulation on sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), which is part of the ‘Green Deal’.
This regulation sets out a roadmap for the deployment of sustainable fuels in aviation to reduce the sector’s CO2 emissions by replacing kerosene with sustainable fuels.
“This text is a milestone, as it lays the foundations for a sovereign synthetic fuel industry in Europe and enables it to consolidate its leadership in a technology which, given the urgency of climate change, will be essential for all in the future” said Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, French), rapporteur for the text, in a statement.
SAFs thus includes synthetic fuels, i.e. renewable liquid and gaseous fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO), recycled carbon-based fuels and biofuels. These include advanced biofuels and those produced from feedstocks that are not derived from food and feed crops, intermediate crops, palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) and materials derived from palm and soybeans, and soap reserves and derivatives.
Quotas for SAFs and electrofuels, synthetic fuels produced using decarbonised electricity, had been a sticking point in the negotiations, with the EU Council being less ambitious than the European Parliament (see EUROPE 13157/11). The co-legislators therefore agreed on these quotas: 2% SAF and 0% e-fuels by 2025; 6% SAF and 1.2% e-fuels, with a minimum of 0.7% e-fuels each year by 2030-2031; 6% SAF and 2% e-fuels, but with a minimum of 1.2% e-fuels each year by 2032-2033; 6% SAF and 2% e-fuels by 2034; 20% SAF and 5% e-fuels by 2035; 34% SAF and 10% e-fuels by 2040; 42% SAF and 15% e-fuels by 2045; 70% SAF and 35% e-fuels by 2050.
However, Ms Delli was critical of the inclusion of nuclear power as a sustainable production method for synthetic fuels. A five-yearly reassessment by the European Commission of non CO2 SAF emissions has therefore been added.
“We call on the European Commission to monitor how the new rules will affect the functioning and competitiveness of the European sector vis-à-vis their competitors from third countries, to avoid carbon leakage” commented Marian-Jean Marinescu MEP (EPP, Romanian) in a statement.
Laurent Donceel, acting director general ofA4E, the association of EU airlines, reacted in a statement: “European policymakers need to ensure they now follow through and help build a world-leading SAF industry”. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)