UK Government Favours a SAF Blending Mandate Based on Carbon Savings rather than Volumes

by Christopher Surgenor (GreenAir Online) Following closely behind the release of the European Commission’s ReFuelEU Aviation sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blending mandate proposal, the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) has opened an eight-week consultation on its own proposal for a UK SAF mandate. In common with the EU, the UK mandate would likely start in 2025 and place obligations on jet fuel suppliers but otherwise the two schemes differ in how the mandate should be applied. Whereas the EU requires suppliers to blend a minimum volume percentage of SAF with aviation fuel that rises every five years to 2050, the UK government proposes to prioritise carbon emission savings through a GHG emissions scheme issuing credits proportional to the kilograms of CO2e saved.

“A long-term obligation can generate demand for SAF, provide an incentive to SAF producers (in the form of a tradeable credit) and signal to investors the vital role the government believes the technology will play in the UK,” says the DfT in the consultation document.

The consultation seeks views on the high-level ambition and design of the proposed SAF mandate, the eligibility criteria SAF will need to meet, the interaction between SAF and other domestic and international policies, and the compliance, reporting and verification principles that will steer the subsequent development of the proposed scheme.

Commenting on the launch of the consultation, Shapps said: “There are many complexities to overcome, including how a mandate might interact with international frameworks as well as our own Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO), how we set a realistic but ambitious target, and how we balance rapid sectoral growth with supporting the technologies that will be most important in the longer term.

“Some have also suggested that a mandate alone will not be enough to grow a UK SAF industry quickly. Through this consultation, we are also beginning a conversation about whether there is more we can do to provide price certainty for producers looking to build SAF plants and invest in the UK.”

Only waste-derived biofuels, RFNBOs (renewable liquid or gaseous transport fuels for which none of the energy content of the fuel comes from biological sources), SAF from nuclear origin and recycled carbon fuels would be permitted to contribute towards the mandate obligation under the proposal, so SAF produced from food or feed crops would not be allowed. Feedstocks, including residues, should not be obtained from land with high biodiversity value or land with high carbon stocks in or after January 2008. SAF production must also not direct renewable electricity away from existing applications and where hydrogen is used as a process input, the hydrogen must be low carbon.

To avoid double counting, it is proposed any emission reductions claimed under a SAF mandate cannot be claimed under another GHG scheme such as the UK ETS and CORSIA, although views are welcomed on how the schemes could be used together to continue to incentivise SAF uptake. The government believes a UK SAF mandate and an EU-wide mandate implemented at similar timescales, together with the obligation being placed on all fuel supplied, would reduce the risk of tankering and carbon leakage. READ MORE