EU’s draft green jet fuel law risks worsening emissions: study

EU institutions are divided as to what biofuel feedstocks should be given the greenlight for sustainable aviation fuel status. [OlegRi / Shutterstock.com]

Attempts by EU legislators to qualify a wider array of biofuel feedstocks for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will push up emissions compared to the European Commission’s original proposal, a new study has found.

Negotiations are currently underway to conclude the ‘ReFuelEU Aviation’ proposal, which will oblige aircraft landing at European airports to uplift a set percentage of SAF mixed with kerosene.

The aim of the regulation is to slash aviation emissions by displacing fossil kerosene with certain biofuels and green hydrogen-derived electrofuels in gradual stages between 2025 and 2050.

But the EU institutions are divided as to what biofuel feedstocks should be given the greenlight for SAF status.

A new report by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), a green mobility NGO, encourages lawmakers to restrict permissible feedstocks to those listed under Annex IX of the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive – such as algae, biowaste, straw, and biomass residues from forestry.

The ICCT would also like to see a hard cap on the inclusion of biofuels derived from used cooking oil and certain animal fats within the ReFuelEU Aviation text.

According to the report, proposals to extend SAF biofuels beyond the Annex IX list would see feedstocks “associated with increased food prices and indirect emissions” used to meet the SAF targets.

“Almost all feedstocks that would qualify towards the SAF definition with the European Parliament’s and Council’s changes to the SAF definition are used in food and feed or carry fraud risk,” states the report.

The use of these materials for biofuel production would “likely result in significant food price, fraud, and land use change impacts,” the report continues, highlighting that these feedstocks have alternative uses at present which will need to be substituted.

While both the European Parliament and EU countries have proposed to expand the SAF definition, MEPs have drawn up a narrower list of permissible feedstocks.

“Parliament’s efforts to exclude some problematic feedstocks, namely intermediate crops, palm and soy-derived products, and soapstock and its derivatives, would be a step towards improving the climate impact of Europe’s jet fuel,” Chelsea Baldino, one of the report’s authors, told EURACTIV.

“However, many problematic feedstocks would remain, such as category 3 animal fats,” she added, referencing animal byproducts that are edible, though usually not eaten in Europe for cultural reasons.

Under amendments tabled by the Council of the EU, all biofuel feedstocks would be permitted bar food-and-feed crops, though those not contained in Annex IX of the Renewable Energy Directive would be capped at 3%.

The Parliament has proposed a 2034 phase out date for all biofuels not derived from Annex IX feedstocks.

European Parliament backs higher green jet fuel targets to decarbonise aviation

The European Parliament approved draft EU rules Thursday (7 July) to greatly increase the amount of green jet fuel used in the aviation sector, a move lawmakers say will help to slash flying’s carbon footprint.

Renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs)

Under the Parliament’s position, green fuels such as hydrogen and synthetic fuels from green electricity, as well as electricity from renewable sources, would also count towards SAF targets.

Hydrogen-powered and electric aircraft are largely experimental at present, though they are expected to increase in numbers from the middle of the next decade, as the technology matures.

While there is already a sub-target for synthetic fuels (also known as electrofuels or power-to-liquid) within the ReFuelEU text, this excludes hydrogen and electricity. 

If the SAF definition is expanded to include these fuels – known in EU jargon as “renewable fuels of non-biological origin” or “RFNBOs” – the sub-target should be ramped up, the ICCT recommends. The Parliament is pushing for a 50% RFNBO subtarget by 2050, a significant increase from the Council and Commission position of 28%.

However, this increased target should only be applied if the principle of “additionality” is maintained, the ICCT argues.

Lawmakers in 2018 proposed an “additionality” act that would require new sources of renewables to be used in the production of green hydrogen. 

This obligation aims to ensure that the production of green hydrogen does not monopolise scarce renewable energy, forcing other industries to use fossil electricity.

Last week, the Parliament passed an amendment to the EU’s renewable energy directive that waters down the additionality act, allowing more flexibility in how green hydrogen and e-fuels are produced.

Parliament backs e-fuels, higher EU transport decarbonisation target

Lawmakers voted Wednesday (14 September) to increase the EU’s transport emissions reduction target from 13% to 16% by 2030, in a move spurred largely by the urgent political need to break Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels.

Whether additionality requirements will be altered in the final version of the directive remains to be seen as the final text will need approval from both the Parliament and the Council of the EU, which represents the 27 EU member states.

The Council’s position additionally leaves the door open for “low-carbon fuels”, made from hydrogen produced with natural gas or coal, known as “blue hydrogen”.

While blue hydrogen is produced with fossil fuels, the resulting CO2 is trapped rather than released into the atmosphere, in a process known as carbon capture and storage (CCS).

But the ICCT believes that any inclusion of low-carbon fuels in the file would undermine the regulation, as CCS technology is not yet available at scale.

Food prices and biofuel demand

Trade association the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) was critical of the ICCT report, arguing that the blanket assertion that feedstocks outside of Annex IX are problematic is untrue.

In fact, there is “huge potential” for other wastes and residues to cut emissions, André Paula Santos, EBB public affairs director, told EURACTIV.

EBB also took issue with the statement that expanding the SAF definition would affect food prices. Paula Santos pointed to a 2020 study carried out by the European Commission which found that “no correlation has been observed between food prices and biofuel demand” in recent years.

“Any impact on food prices is small compared to other dynamics in the global food market,” the report states.

EBB is supporting the Council’s position, as it provides the broadest SAF definition.

But another industry group, the European Waste-based & Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA), backs ICCT’s calls for a hard cap on the use of biofuels derived from used cooking oil and certain animal fats in aircraft.

EWABA has long warned that the Commission’s SAF proposals will monopolise waste lipids for aviation, to the detriment of other transport modes, such as road transport and shipping.

However, the trade association is supportive of broadening the SAF definition in tandem with introducing the hard limitation. Doing so, they say, will reduce aviation’s dependency on used cooking oil and category 1 & 2 animal fats for SAF production.

[Edited by Frédéric Simon]

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Established in 1997, the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) represents biodiesel producers in the EU, and promotes the use of biodiesel for a greener and more sustainable environment.


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