Govt pledges further £165 million for sustainable fuels sector
James ChappleThe government has announced a second round of investment in the UK’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) sector, claiming it is working towards a "long-term trajectory" for SAF production and uptake in the UK.
Ministers on Thursday (30 March) said its new Powering Up Britain push would help build a stable environment for businesses to invest and grow in the transition to SAF.
Other pledges include launching a second consultation on mandating 10% SAF in the UK aviation fuel mix by 2030, and the award of grants to Airbus to scale up research into ultra-low emissions and hydrogen aircraft.
Another £165 million will be made available through the Advanced Fuels Fund to incentivise businesses to come up with innovative ways of creating new fuels, such as by repurposing household and commercial waste or through reusing by-products from other industrial processes.
The government has been criticised for failing to sufficiently incentivise the SAF sector to date, despite its claims the UK is a "world leader" in the production and use of low carbon fuels, and independent analysis suggesting a UK SAF industry could sustain 65,000 jobs and generate almost £2 million gross value added benefit per year.
Westminster’s ambition remains to have at least five UK SAF plants under construction by 2025, while a new consultation on achieving 10% SAF in the UK aviation fuel mix by 2030 – and mandating it – will explore how the mandate is designed.
"Our journey towards zero-emission flights will include kick-starting the commercialisation of SAF in the UK," read the report. "We are making excellent progress towards this goal and go even further, announcing a consultation setting out full details of the SAF mandate policy with target trajectories and incentives."
It added: "We commissioned an independent review to help understand the conditions needed to create a sustainable long-term UK SAF industry in October 2022, and will imminently respond to its findings, and will work with industry on options to increase revenue certainty for UK SAF plants and options to stabilise the UK market for feedstocks."
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