The European Parliament cleared the path for the use of green fuels in planes in a close vote. They have prohibited the use of contentious biofuel feedstocks, such as intermediate crops and palm oil by-products (PFADs), under Europe’s aviation green fuel mandate (ReFuelEU).
Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) should have no connection to deforestation, biodiversity loss, or rising food costs. Today, EU legislators have taken an important step toward defining SAFs in a way that benefits our planet and the credibility of aviation’s green future.
In an unprecedented move, airlines and green groups, with the support of easyJet, wrote to MEPs ahead of the vote to exclude palm oil by-products from the definition of biofuel feedstock.
This is an important step toward avoiding devastating climate consequences, as palm oil is frequently used as a substitute for animal fats, resulting in negative impacts on global land use change and emissions, as well as biodiversity.
Most crucially, the European Parliament favored synthetic fuels over biofuels. They are the only fuels that can be ramped up sustainably to lessen the climatic effect of aviation.
Lawmakers increased the Commission’s recommended synthetic fuel quantities for 2030, deciding that by 2050, half of Europe’s total jet fuel usage will be synthetic. The most common synthetic fuel accessible today is e-kerosene, which is produced by mixing green hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
This historic decision demonstrates the European Union’s desire to incentivize and speed-up the development of zero-emission aircraft’s, which will not only decrease the aviation industry’s CO2 impact on the environment, but will also improve air quality near airports.
Reference- Transport & Environment (T&E) Article, Honeywell website, Shell website, Futurism