Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support the transition to sustainable aviation fuels.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are supporting the transition to sustainable aviation fuels by taking action to build supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and secure demand.
The SAF Mandate will secure demand for SAF, by obligating the supply of SAF in the overall UK aviation fuel mix. The Mandate will require 2% of UK jet fuel to be made from sustainable sources in 2025, 10% in 2030 and 22% in 2040. It will incentivise SAF supply through the award of tradeable certificates with a cash value.
We are kickstarting a UK SAF industry by allocation £135m through our Advanced Fuels Fund, which is funding thirteen projects to reach completion and supporting our ambition to see five plants under construction in the UK by 2025. We are currently consulting on the introduction of a revenue certainty mechanism, which will help de-risk SAF projects in the UK by addressing barriers to investment in a nascent market.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential barriers to wider deployment of biomass fuels.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government’s Biomass Strategy, published in 2023, analysed biomass availability and recognised that sustainable biomass is a limited resource and there is uncertainty around future availability for use in the UK. It concluded its use should be prioritised where it offers the greatest environmental, economic, and social benefits.
This analysis has been built on in the government’s response to the second Sustainable Aviation Fuel Mandate consultation, published in April 2024. This set out that while biofuels have a significant role to play, international availability of different types of sustainable biomass may limit their total application for the decarbonisation of aviation.
The Government is preparing a Low Carbon Fuel Strategy for future publication.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using (a) the (i) detritus and (ii) cut offs from timber products and (b) the waste from Whisky distilling in the manufacture of sustainable aviation fuel.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Through the SAF Mandate the government will reward eligible SAF with certificates to incentivise its supply. Only SAF from waste and residue will be eligible. Wastes and residues from many industries have the potential to produce SAF. SAF developers can submit new materials to be assessed by the Department to decide if eligible. Many have already been assessed, including forestry wastes and residues from the whisky production process, from which some specific materials have already been deemed eligible.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to take to help sustainable aviation fuel producers meet levels of demand from airlines.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is supporting the development of a UK SAF industry to increase the supply of SAF in the UK.
We will introduce our SAF Mandate from 2025, which will secure demand, supporting investor confidence in UK SAF projects. It will incentivise the supply of SAF through the provision of tradable certificates with a cash value.
Thirteen projects have been awarded a share of £135m through the Advanced Fuels Fund, supporting them to reach commercial scale. Once at operational scale, funded projects could produce over 700,000 tonnes of SAF yearly. We have established a UK SAF Clearing House, which helps to remove barriers to new fuels coming to market.
We are also consulting on options to provide UK SAF producers with a revenue certainty mechanism, which will help provide greater certainty of future revenue and attract investment in commercial scale SAF plants within the UK.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using low-carbon aircraft to support regional airports.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Airlines determine the routes they operate based on their own assessment of whether routes are commercially viable.
The Budget confirmed that the Government’s support for the development of new low and zero carbon emission aircraft in the UK will continue with an additional £975m of funding between 2025 and 2030.
In addition, the Government is supporting the development of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) by introducing a SAF Mandate from 1 January 2025 and the consultation on revenue certainty options to support investment in a UK SAF production industry.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of financially incentivising the use of sustainable aviation fuel.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 25 April 2024, the government’s response to the second consultation on the UK SAF Mandate was published. This confirmed the final design of the scheme which, subject to parliamentary approval, will come into force on 1 January 2025.
The SAF Mandate builds upon the success of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RFTO), providing a long-term incentive to supply sustainable aviation fuel through a guaranteed level of demand.
As part of the SAF Mandate’s design, the government has published Cost Benefit Analysis documents that comprehensively present the possible costs and benefits of the scheme.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2024 to Question 22401 on Aviation: Fuel, if he will detail the sums allocated to each of the 13 SAF projects.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Company/Project | Project Location | Advanced Fuels Fund Award |
Alfanar Energy Ltd (Lighthouse Green Fuels) | Teesside | Window 1: £11,001,000 Window 2: £8,664,000 |
Fulcrum BioEnergy Ltd (NorthPoint) | Ellesmere Port, Cheshire | £16,764,000 |
Lanzatech UK Ltd (DRAGON) | South Wales | £24,960,843 |
Velocys plc (Altalto) | Immingham, Lincolnshire | £27,000,000 |
Velocys plc (e-Alto) | TBC | £2,523,094 |
Abundia Biomass-to-Liquids (Jet – AB2L) | Teesside | £4,484,000 |
Arcadia e-Fuels (NABOO) | Teesside | £12,341,000 |
Carbon Neutral Fuels (ASAP-DAC) | TBC | £1,376,000 |
Esso Petroleum Company (Solent SAF) | Solent | £6,065,000 |
Nova Pangaea Technologies (Project Speedbird) | Wilton at Teesside | £9,063,015 |
OXCCU Tech (OXEFUEL BIOGENIC) | Sheffield’s Translational Energy Research Centre | £2,814,000 |
Willis Sustainable Fuels (Carbonshift PtL) | Teesside | Award: £4,721,000 |
Zero Petroleum (PMZ.2) | Orkney | £3,492,100 |
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2024 to Question 19719 on INEOS: Belgium, whether the Ineos project will be capable of processing sustainable aviation fuel.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The INEOS Olefins project is a petrochemical plant being built to produce a range of petrochemicals products rather than burnable fuels. Therefore it neither processes nor produces any form of aviation fuel.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2024 to Question 22401 on Aviation: Fuels, if he will detail the firms and locations of the 13 SAF projects.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Company/Project | Project Location |
Abundia Biomass-to-Liquids | Teesside |
Alfanar Energy Ltd | Teesside |
Fulcrum BioEnergy Ltd | Ellesmere Port, Cheshire |
Lanzatech UK Ltd | South Wales |
Velocys plc | Immingham, Lincolnshire |
Velocys plc | TBC |
Arcadia e-Fuels (NABOO) | Teesside |
Carbon Neutral Fuels | TBC |
Esso Petroleum Company | Solent |
Nova Pangaea Technologies | Wilton at Teesside |
OXCCU Tech | Sheffield’s Translational Energy Research Centre |
Willis Sustainable Fuels | Teesside |
Zero Petroleum | Orkney |
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to help support the development of (a) hydrotreating kerosene and (b) other cleaner aviation fuels.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In July 2022, Government confirmed that a SAF Mandate would be introduced in 2025 requiring at least 10% (around 1.5 billion litres) of jet fuel to be made from sustainable feedstocks by 2030.
In the second SAF mandate consultation, it was proposed that increasing targets be set out in legislation from 2025-2040. The levels of these targets will be confirmed in a Government response to the consultation due to be published in Spring 2024.
The SAF mandate will support SAF produced using a range of feedstocks and technologies including biofuels from waste materials via the hydrotreated ester fatty acids process.
Our £135m Advanced Fuels Fund is supporting 13 different SAF projects reach commercial scale in the UK. These cover a range of technologies to drive innovation and diversity of supply. Once operational, these projects are expected to collectively produce over 700 kilo tonnes of SAF and reduce CO2 emissions by 2.7 million each year.
In September 2023, the Government also committed to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism to support SAF production in the UK. The intention is that it will be industry funded. The mechanism will provide revenue certainty for SAF production, supporting investor confidence in UK SAF projects.