“Unacceptably, the cost of SAF to airlines has now doubled in Europe because of compliance fees that SAF producers or suppliers are charging”, said Willie Walsh, Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), on Sunday 1 June.
SAF production is expected to reach 2 million tonnes, or 0.7% of total airline fuel consumption, by 2025. The forecast cost at current market prices is $1.2 billion per million tonnes. Compliance costs are expected to add a further $1.7 billion to these prices, which could have reduced carbon emissions by a further 3.5 million tonnes. Instead of promoting the use of SAF, European mandates have made these fuels five times more expensive than conventional paraffin (see EUROPE 13590/9). For Mr Walsh, this highlights the problem of implementing mandates before market conditions are sufficient. “Europe needs to realise that its approach is not working and find another way”, he added. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)