EU lawmakers ban controversial biofuels from SAF mandate

The European Parliament on Thursday voted to ban the usage of controversial biofuel feedstocks from Europe’s aviation inexperienced gasoline mandate, generally known as ReFuelEU. 

In a slender vote the parliament rejected a proposal that will have expanded the definition of sustainable aviation fuels to incorporate palm oil by-products and intermediate crops.

Marketing campaign group Transport & Atmosphere (T&E) hailed the choice an essential step in the direction of decarbonising Europe’s aviation business, however pressured extra must be achieved.

T&E aviation coverage officer, Matteo Mirolo, implored EU lawmakers to additionally exclude animal fat from biofuel manufacturing.

“If we’re critical about combating local weather change and decarbonising aviation, Europe must make extra selections just like the one we witnessed [on Thursday]. Sustainable aviation fuels should not have any hyperlink by any means to deforestation, lack of biodiversity and rising meals costs,” he mentioned.

Forward of the vote, T&E, easyJet and affiliation Airways for Europe lobbied MEPs of the Transport Committee to attract consideration to the environmental impacts of palm oil manufacturing, which causes widespread deforestation. 

Amid plans to scale-up manufacturing of sustainable aviation gasoline, the Parliament confirmed choice for artificial fuels over biofuels, rising proposed volumes in order that by 2050 half of the full jet gasoline use in Europe will likely be artificial. As well as, the Fee expanded the definition of artificial aviation fuels to renewable electrical energy and inexperienced hydrogen. 

In doing so, Mirolo mentioned the Parliament has paved the best way to control the standard of gasoline – marking a major step in the direction of decreasing non-CO2 emissions that account for two thirds of aviation’s local weather influence. 

“Decarbonising the aviation sector is not any straightforward job, however airways, environmentalists and politics alike have sided with the wants of the planet,” Mirolo added.