T&E has joined airlines, e-SAF producers and NGOs in highlighting the strategic role e-SAF can play in boosting European competitiveness, autonomy and its clean tech industry.
With a potential to cut CO₂ emissions by more than 90 per cent compared to fossil jet fuel, e-SAF is the most sustainable aviation fuel, and it can be produced at scale.
With 41 announced projects, Europe could be a trailblazer for e-SAF, presenting a once-in-a-generation opportunity to align climate ambition with industrial renewal and strategic autonomy.
The EU must use the Sustainable Transport Investment Plan (STIP) as a mechanism to help get these projects off the ground:
Prioritise e-SAF via a comprehensive EU strategy with targeted support and financing
Reinforce the stability of ReFuelEU by upholding the e-SAF sub-target and penalties, and focusing reviews on enabling conditions.
Ensure fair access to jet fuel infrastructure and competition across the e-SAF market
Establish a market intermediary, funded by aviation ETS revenues, to run double-sided auctions to support e-SAF production and offtakes.
Mobilise EU instruments like the Innovation Fund, SAF allowances, and Hydrogen Bank to support e-SAF.
Industry claims, often echoed by governments to justify airport expansion, that more flights benefit the economy, undermined by new research.
Challenging assumptions on the economic benefits of air transport growth
‘STIP’ diagnoses the problems for decarbonising planes and ships, but there is an urgency to act now, says T&E.