The European Union (EU) is prepared to subsidise the purchase of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) by Member State airlines in a bid to boost aviation’s transition to cleaner fuel and make that switch more affordable, according to Reuters.
Current EU targets call for 2% of fuel available at EU airports to be SAF this year, with that percentage rising to 6% by 2030. However, airlines are dubious due to SAF being so expensive – roughly up to 5 times the price of traditional fuel.
According to Reuters, its own calculations – based on European Commission data – “suggest that the subsidies could trigger a significant boost to airline demand for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), given the volume equates to about 15% of global SAF production.”
Reuters‘ report added: “Global SAF output last year totalled 1.3 billion litres, according to airline industry association IATA.
“The EU has earmarked revenue from the sale of 20 million carbon emissions permits to help airlines to cover the price gap between conventional kerosene and more expensive SAF on flights within Europe. Reuters calculations showed these subsidies would cover purchases of up to 216 million litres of e-fuels – synthetic fuels made using captured CO2 emissions – or as much as 2.6 billion litres of biofuels.
“The EU subsidies cover up to 6 euros per litre for e-fuels and 0.5 euros per litre for biofuels.”
