In a narrow vote, the European Parliament has cleared the way for the introduction of green fuels in aircraft.
The European Parliament has banned the use of controversial biofuel feedstocks, including intermediate crops and palm oil by-products (PFADs), from the European Green Fuel Aviation (ReFuelEU) mandate.
Green Group Transport & Environment (T&E) calls on the three main European institutions – the Parliament, the Council and the Commission – to maintain the momentum by excluding the last remaining problematic raw material – animal fats (of the third category) – in their upcoming negotiations in September.
Matteo Mirolo, Aviation Policy Officer, says: “If we want to take climate change seriously and decarbonise aviation, Europe needs to make more choices as we have seen today. Sustainable aviation fuels should have no connection whatsoever with deforestation, loss of biodiversity and rising food prices. Today, EU legislators are moving in the right direction towards a definition of SAFs that is positive for our planet and the credibility of the green future of aviation.”
On the table was a proposal that would have extended the definition of sustainable fuels to palm oil by-products PFADs and catch crops¹. In an unprecedented move, airlines and green groups, with the support of easyJet, wrote to MEPs ahead of the vote to draw attention to the problems of palm oil by-products and biofuels in aviation. Excluding these commodities from the definition was an important step to avoid devastating climate impacts.
However, animal fats (of the third category) still remain included in the definition of what constitutes a green fuel in Europe. Animal fats are by-products of the animal slaughter process. They are used in competitive industries, creating shortages in sectors that already use them. Palm oil is often the chosen substitute for animal fats, leading to negative impacts on global land use change and emissions, as well as on biodiversity.
Most importantly, the European Parliament favored synthetic fuels over biofuels. They are the only fuels that can be sustainably scaled to reduce the climate impact of aviation, says T&E. Legislators have tripled the volumes of synthetic fuel proposed by the Commission by 2030 and decided that by 2050, half of the total use of jet fuel in Europe will be synthetic. The main synthetic fuel now available is e-kerosene, generated by combining green hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). An ambitious mandate for e-kerosene will boost investment in the fuel, in a market where Europe is already a leader.
Parliament has also extended the definition of synthetic jet fuels to renewable electricity and green hydrogen. This momentous decision shows that the EU wants to stimulate and accelerate the development of zero-emission aircraft.
Amid discussions on fuel types, aviation’s mitigating non-CO₂ effects made it to the final text. Non-CO₂ emissions account for two-thirds of aviation’s climate impact, but past attempts to legislate them have been unsuccessful. Today Parliament has cleared the way to finally regulate the quality of fuel to ensure it has lower aromatics concentrations and lower sulfur content. This will be an important step to reduce non-CO2 climate impacts in aviation, but also to improve air quality around airports, says T&E.
Mirolo concluded: “The European Parliament doubled the use of synthetic fuels for aviation, leaving no room for diversion to harmful biofuels from palm oil and crop by-products. Decarbonizing the aviation sector is no easy task, but airlines, environmentalists and politicians alike have sided with the planet. Let’s close this deal now by excluding all remaining unsustainable biofuels.”
¹ Catch crops are crops that are planted in the intermediate season before or after the main crop.
Originally published on Transport & Environment†
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