Jet Zero consultation – what it says on “sustainable aviation fuels” (spoiler…crazy over-optimism)

Sustainable aviation fuels could play a key role in decarbonising aviation, whilst also representing an industrial leadership opportunity for the UK.

3.13 As well as improving the efficiency of aircraft, we need to reduce the climate impact of the fuels that they use.

3.14 SAF are a ‘drop in’ option, meaning they can be blended into fossil-based aviation fuel and used in existing aircraft without modification and therefore could deliver both medium- and long-term CO2 emissions savings.
Many experts view SAF as the only alternative for longhaul flights up to 2050, which are the flights with the biggest climate impact; it is estimated that flights greater than 5,000km (equivalent to a flight from London to Bahrain), which make up just 10% of overall flights, are responsible for over 60% of UK aviation emissions.27

3.15 When compared to conventional fossil aviation fuel, SAF produced from feedstocks with strong sustainability credentials can result in over 70% CO2 emissions saving on a lifecycle basis28 and could deliver net zero emissions with the addition of greenhouse gas removal technologies. Most SAF also emit less soot and particulate matter compared with conventional fossil jet fuel which is expected to reduce non-CO2 climate impacts.

What are SAF?

“SAF” are low carbon alternatives to conventional, fossil-derived, aviation fuel – ‘drop in equivalents’ that present similar characteristics to conventional jet fuel. Generally, SAF
can be produced from three types of feedstock:

• Biomass: this includes biogenic waste, e.g. used cooking oil.
• Non-biogenic waste: e.g. unrecyclable plastics or waste fossil gases from industry.
• CO2 + green hydrogen: zero-carbon electricity is used to produce hydrogen through water electrolysis; hydrogen then reacts with CO2 captured from the air or waste industrial exhaust streams to produce a synthetic fuel. This process is known as Power-to-liquid (PtL).
….

The benefits of sustainable aviation fuel 29

A UK SAF industry could generate between £700m–£1.6bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) per year.

Creating between 5,000–11,000 green jobs.

Helping the UK to ‘level up’ and not rely on oil imports, with production facilities across the whole of the UK.

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The Jet Zero Council SAF Delivery Group has been set up for government and industry
to work together to establish UK SAF production facilities and accelerate the delivery of the fuel to market. It is focused on the development of a UK SAF mandate, the commercialisation of the sector, and the technologies and feedstocks that the UK
should prioritise.

3.17 SAF supply is already rewarded through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) which provides tradeable certificates for every litre of certain sustainable fuels used for aviation. The Government has also provided grant funding
to businesses through our Advanced Biofuel Demonstration Competition (2014) and Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition (2017), putting the UK in a strong position to develop advanced fuels capable of decarbonising harder-to-decarbonise sectors. We are now building on this ambition through the Green Fuels, Green Skies competition which is providing £15m in 2021-22 to support the early development of first-of-a-kind commercial SAF plants in the UK.

3.18 Our strategy will build on this commitment. We are continuing to develop plans for a SAF clearing house and will shortly consult on a UK SAF blending mandate to kickstart the market which could enable greater SAF uptake than is within the CCC’s Balanced Pathway. We are keen to maximise the environmental and industrial opportunities
that SAF offer and, in the upcoming months, we will also consider whether further innovative policy mechanisms are needed to provide greater confidence to UK SAF producers.

3.19 At the time of writing there is currently no comprehensive global regulatory standard for SAF sustainability. The UK is therefore active at ICAO in negotiating for a full set of sustainability criteria for SAF that will underpin its global deployment. At the same time, we recognise that a global ambition for future SAF deployment may help to give certainty to the global industry and avoid some of the challenges associated with states acting alone.
Any such goal would need to be underpinned by strong sustainability criteria.

3.20 Our vision is to scale up SAF over the coming years, such that out to 2050 they are primarily used on flights that may be more challenging to conduct by zero emission aircraft – most likely the long-haul flights that are responsible for the bulk of emissions – whilst ensuring that the UK secures the huge economic prize on offer: reducing dependence on imported oil and creating new green jobs across the UK.

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Rolls-Royce case study

As part of their ATI Programme project
‘SIRUS’, supported with a £16m
government grant, Rolls-Royce have
undertaken engine ground tests using
100% SAF. Covering emissions, efficiency,
noise and operability, Rolls-Royce aim
to make all their civil aero-engines in
production compatible with 100% SAF by
2023, double the current maximum blend
of 50%. This will allow SAF to contribute
further to our net zero commitment and
places Rolls-Royce and the UK at the
forefront of this increasingly important field.

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Our existing policy commitments:

• We will shortly consult on a UK SAF mandate setting out our level of ambition for future SAF uptake and defining the scope, technology, compliance and reporting implications underpinned by it.

• We have formed the Clean Skies for Tomorrow SAF Ambassadors group, which will develop, pilot and promote industry-led policy proposals for national SAF policies,
ahead of COP26.

• We will continue to engage SAF stakeholders through the Jet Zero Council SAF Delivery Group, to ensure future SAF policy is robust.

• We have consulted on the possibility of expanding the RTFO to reward recycled carbon fuels (RCF) which are produced from fossil wastes that cannot be avoided, reused or recycled.

• We are supporting the development of SAF through the Green Fuel, Green Skies competition, through which companies will be able to bid for a share of £15 million
in 2021-22 to kickstart the development of first-of-a-kind production plants in the UK. Successful projects are expected to be announced in summer 2021.

• We will establish a SAF clearing house to enable early stage aviation fuel testing as an essential capability to support our decarbonisation agenda.

Our new policy proposals:

• We will consider whether further policies are needed to provide SAF producers with greater confidence and encourage UK production.

• We will continue to negotiate in ICAO for comprehensive SAF sustainability standards and to work towards a future global SAF objective. We will also work with smaller groups of states to coordinate on SAF policies where this can be complementary to ICAO’s work.

• We will look at the feasibility of using SAF on UK Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes.

• Alongside the five-year reviews of this strategy, we will undertake a SAF-specific review by 2030, once the supportive policy framework is in place, and SAF production is being scaled up, and use this to confirm a SAF trajectory to 2050.

• We will work across government to pioneer the accelerated procurement and use of SAF.

Questions…

7. Do you agree or disagree with the overall approach for the development and uptake of SAF in the UK?

8. What further measures are needed to support the development of a globally competitive UK SAF industry and increase SAF usage?