Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Accepted
Paragraph: 111
Establish strongest safeguards in UK SAF policy to ensure significant lifecycle emissions savings.
Recommendation
We are concerned that the broad definition of what is currently considered a sustainable fuel, and the absence of a global standard for SAFs, may lead to the development of aviation fuels which cannot credibly be described as sustainable. We recommend that the Government take every opportunity to establish in its policy instruments for a UK SAF industry the strongest safeguards to ensure significant lifecycle emissions savings from the use of SAFs developed in the UK.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation, confirming it will introduce a SAF mandate from 2025 with strict sustainability criteria to ensure genuine lifecycle emissions savings. It will also require evidence of lifecycle emissions from fuel producers and is supporting the industry through the £135 million Advanced Fuels Fund.
Paragraph Reference:
111
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government agrees with this recommendation. The Government’s vision is for the UK to be a global leader in the development, production, and use of SAF, allowing us to grow the sector sustainably and achieve net zero flight. Building domestic SAF production capacity represents not only a significant economic opportunity but also a means for strengthening our energy security. The UK will introduce a SAF mandate from 2025, requiring at least 10% of UK aviation fuel to be SAF by 2030. Fuel suppliers will receive awards, (in the form of tradable certificates) for the SAF they supply, proportionate to the GHG savings of their fuel. The mandate will introduce strict sustainability criteria to ensure SAF delivers genuine GHG emission savings. Fuels eligible for award include waste and residue derived biofuels, recycled carbon fuels and power to liquid fuels. Fuel producers will need to evidence the lifecycle emissions of their fuels to receive awards and fuels will need to deliver minimum GHG savings over fossil kerosene. The Government is supporting a UK industry through our £135 million Advanced Fuels Fund (AFF) which is supporting 13 first-of-a-kind projects to reach commercial scale by overcoming perceived technological and construction risks. This has set us on the path to achieve our shared ambition of having 5 plants under construction by 20256.