by Sean Goulding Carroll (EURACTIV.com) Under the ReFuelEU Aviation proposal, the percentage of SAF that must be mixed with kerosene would reach 63% in 2050. — Pressure is growing on EU lawmakers to ensure agricultural and waste residues are legally required in the production of green jet fuel to prevent a reliance on imported used cooking oil.
Campaigners from industry are pushing for a sub-mandate for certain biofuel feedstocks to be added to the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation, a legislative proposal put forward by the European Commission to cut flight emissions.
Under ReFuelEU Aviation, airlines refuelling in EU airports would be required to uplift kerosene blended with a set percentage of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), which are derived from second-generation biofuels and electro-fuels.
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But ReFuelEU has led to concerns that much of the SAF mandate will be met through the processing of used cooking oil. Most advanced biofuel feedstocks require novel technology to refine into jet fuel, making them more costly than used cooking oil, which can be refined using mature processing technology.
Used cooking oil has proven controversial in recent years, with questions raised over the quality of imports. Green campaigners fear that virgin palm oil, which has been linked to deforestation in tropical countries and is restricted in the EU, may be mixed with genuine waste oils to boost UCO quantities.
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Proponents say a sub-mandate for feedstocks listed in Part A of the Renewable Energy Directive’s Annex 9 would send a signal to companies to start investing in SAF production from these sources, alleviating the need for UCO.
Included in the Commission’s current proposal is a sub-mandate for the use of e-fuels in the SAF mix, which campaigners say could be replicated for certain advanced biofuel feedstocks.
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The European Waste-based & Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA) has similarly called for the inclusion of a sub-mandate for all non-waste lipid feedstocks in Part A of Annex 9, saying the current proposal suffers from “faulty design”.
“The proposed SAF blending mandate as currently drafted over-relies on waste lipids, especially from part B of Annex 9, in the critical 2025-2035 period,” EWABA Secretary General Angel Alberdi told EURACTIV.
“It would completely thwart much needed investment in technologies processing advanced feedstocks from part A (and e-fuels) while at the same time diverting feedstocks from existing more efficient uses with higher GHG savings in the road and maritime sectors,” he added.
EWABA has come out strongly against the ringfencing of used cooking oil feedstocks for SAF production, arguing that UCO is already being used to make low-carbon fuel for cars, trucks, and ships, meaning its redeployment to aviation would leave a shortfall in other transport areas.
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The Green NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) was similarly sceptical of a sub-mandate for Part A feedstocks on the grounds that doing so would turn investments away from e-kerosene. READ MORE
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