by Matthew Parsons (Skift) European politicians are planning legislation that requires airlines to use more sustainable fuel by 2030, but there’s very little going around. One solution is to start building more production plants now, to create enough in time. But what Amex GBT’s chief Paul Abbott wants to know is who’s paying to build them?
The boss of the world’s biggest corporate travel agency has clashed with a top European politician over the best way to lower carbon emissions.
As the European Commission looks at rules that would require airlines to fill planes with a certain percentage of sustainable aviation fuel in the future, he argued there weren’t enough financial incentives to scale up the production of that fuel fast enough.
Paul Abbott, CEO of American Express Global Business Travel, said that 300 sustainable aviation fuel plants would need to be built, if the industry wanted to get to (as a practical example) 10 percent sustainable fuel by 2030.
The problem is that the production plants take five years to build, and cost $300 million each, he said.
Speaking at the Global Business Travel Association’s inaugural Sustainability Summit, held in Brussels on Tuesday, Abbott said the industry now needed to figure out how to find $90 billion, with a decision needed to be taken this year or next, in order to start building the plants in 2024 or 2025.
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Goetz (Walter Goetz, head of cabinet for the transport commissioner at European Commission) replied: “Bringing sustainable fuel into market, it’s not a single solution. We have to force a blending mandate, first of all, so the regulatory frame would be every plane that refuels has, by a certain time, after 2026, 2030, in the European airports would have 2 percent, 5 percent SAF as drop-in fuel.”
The other part is bringing industry and stakeholders together, he continued.
“When it comes to the costs, there are regulatory possibilties to incentivize it, looking at the taxation system … that’s under negotiation. Member states have the possibility to subsidize the sustainable fuel.”
But during his panel appearance, Abbott later said: “Walter was saying we regulate and set the rules … but the problem with that is: you can set the rules, and then you can say we’re the regulator, we set the rules but then it’s up to member states and companies to pick up the baton, (but) you’ve got to create incentives with member states and corporations to pick up the baton and actually make it happen.” READ MORE