EU negotiators have come to an agreement on a green fuels mandate for aviation, in an attempt to progress its green aviation fuel market.

The green fuels law for aviation - known as ReFuelEU - stipulates that, from 2025, all flights departing from an EU airport will be obliged to uplift a minimum share of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), starting at 2 per cent in 2025. In 2030, the percentage will rise to 6 per cent, and gradually to 70 per cent by 2050.

These targets will include requirements for synthetic fuels (e-kerosene), which are the only type of SAFs that can sustainably be scaled up to meet the fuel demands of the sector. Negotiators agreed to a 1.2 per cent synthetic fuel mandate between 2030 and 2031 and 2 per cent between 2032 and 2035.

In a historic amendment, non-CO₂ effects of aviation, accounting for two thirds of aviation’s climate impact, are now open to regulation to ensure it has lower aromatic concentrations and sulphur content. This is a significant step to reduce the non-CO2 climate impacts in aviation, but also to improve air quality around airports.

Matteo Mirolo of T&E said: “This deal and the latest provision on SAF allowances agreed upon last week in the carbon market (EU ETS) provide airlines with the certainty that synthetic kerosene will become cheaper and widely available. The ramp-up of SAFs can now start, but there is more work to be done. Ensuring the success of SAFs will require industrial support policies for synthetic kerosene but also stronger safeguards to ensure that no unsustainable biofuels creep into airplane tanks.”

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