Sustainable Aviation Fuels make the cut in the EU’s new climate legislation aimed to boost cleantech industry

The European aviation industry welcomed the inclusion of Sustainable Aviation Fuels on the single list of strategic net zero technologies included in the EU Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA).

The Act is a central part of the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan, which aims to stimulate domestic manufacturing capacity in clean energy technologies, with the intention of reaching at least 40% of expected EU demand by 2030.

With NZIA, the European Commission wants to create the regulatory conditions necessary to attract and support investment, and help build more production facilities in a faster manner. Concurrently, at the beginning of February, the Commission has also recommended an EU-wide 90% net GHG emissions reduction target by 2040 compared to 1990 levels and put forward a series of measures to achieve it, including through the use of SAF.

The five leading European aviation associations representing Europe’s airlines, airports, civil aeronautics industry and air navigation service providers – which are close partners through the DESTINATION 2050 alliance – welcomed the inclusion of SAF in the Act, noting that it is a prerequisite for paving the way towards development of a strong, globally competitive EU SAF market. However, more needs to be done at the level of policy and incentives to truly give the fledgling industry a fighting chance.

The policy incentives proposed by the DESTINATION 2050 alliance to scale up the production and uptake of SAF in Europe include:

• the extension of the SAF flexibility mechanism beyond 2034;
  
• the extension of the current 20 million allowances threshold and 2030 time-limit under the SAF allowances mechanisms;
  
• increased financial support for development of SAF, including through the Innovation Fund, as well as simplifying the administrative procedure for accessing these funds.

According to the DESTINATION 2050 Net-Zero Roadmap, by the year 2050 the industry could reduce up to 34% of its emissions through the use of SAF, making it a crucial lever in realising the objective of net zero CO2 emissions on all flights within and departing the EU, UK and EFTA region.

Related links:

• DESTINATION 2050 Press Release Inclusion of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act only the first step in developing world leading SAF industry in Europe
  
• Overview of the NZIA: The Net-Zero Industry Act: Accelerating the transition to climate neutrality
  
• GreenAir article Inclusion of SAF in new climate legislation for EU cleantech industry welcomed by aviation sector
  
• Find out more about DESTINATION 2050