Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it her policy to measure the blood lead levels of children living near general aviation airfields.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is supporting the development of new aviation fuels through a range of measures including developing a Sustainable Aviation Fuels mandate and the Advanced Fuels Fund.
There are some specific issues for replacing avgas, a fuel used in piston aircraft which represents less than 1% of total UK aviation fuel use.
An unleaded alternative, Unleaded 91, is now commercially available and may be used by much of the General Aviation sector. In addition, battery-electric aircraft have been certified for use in flight training. The Government encourages General Aviation operators to use unleaded alternatives to avgas when suitable for their aircraft.
The Government has no plans to require the testing of children.
DfT will continue to monitor progress in the transition away from leaded fuels working with DEFRA and the Health and Safety Executive who lead on the regulation of chemicals.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with representatives from airlines on fuel tankering.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is aware of the practice of tankering whereby airlines may decide to take on additional fuel than is required for a given journey. Although tankering can be practiced for operational purposes, such as avoiding technical failures or contaminated fuel at destination airports, research suggests that 90% of tankering events are linked to fuel prices.
In the Government’s consultation, published in March 2023, on the details of the sustainable aviation fuel mandate, we recognised the potential for increased tankering and the risk that it could potentially result in the transfer of carbon emissions to other locations or to an increase in overall carbon emissions. We welcomed views from industry stakeholders in the consultation and are currently reviewing the evidence provided before publishing our response.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the low carbon fuels strategy; and what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the use of hydrogen in aviation.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is planning to publish a Low Carbon Fuels Strategy in early 2024, which aims to support investment in the sector by setting out a vision for the deployment of low carbon fuels across transport modes up to 2050.
The Government’s Jet Zero Strategy published in 2022 recognises the role that hydrogen can play, both directly as a fuel in zero emission flight and as a feedstock for Sustainable Aviation Fuel, in our approach to achieving net zero aviation by 2050.
In addition, the Government, through the Department for Business and Trade, is investing £685 million between 2022 and 2025 through the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme to co-fund with industry the development of ultra-efficient and zero emission, including hydrogen, aircraft technology.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department are taking to help ensure that 10% sustainable aviation fuels are blended in the UK jet fuel mix by 2030.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following a public consultation, in July 2022, Government confirmed that a sustainable aviation fuels (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.
As part of our second consultation published in March 2023, we proposed a range of trajectories for the mandate from 2025 to 2040, all of which would deliver 10% SAF by 2030. We will confirm the trajectories in the forthcoming government response.
We are also taking steps to develop a UK SAF industry and have a commitment to see at least five plants under construction by 2025. We have already funded 5 projects through the Advanced Fuels Fund (AFF), each receiving a share of £82.5m, with an announcement on the second-round winners expected in November 2023.
The Government recognises that uncertainty over future revenues remains a key barrier to investment in SAF production in the UK. In September, the Government committed to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism to support Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production in the UK. Alongside this announcement, the government published a delivery plan outlining the timeline for how such a mechanism could be delivered by 2026.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to open a consultation on the revenue certainty scheme for the sustainable aviation fuel programme.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are on-track to consult on options to design and implement a revenue certainty mechanism to support a UK Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry by the end of April 2024. This will meet our statutory duty, as set out in the Energy Act 2023, to consult within six months of the Act receiving Royal Assent on 26 October.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the comparative potential merits of different sustainable air fuels in the context of variation of lifecycle emissions within fuels denoted as the same type.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can be easily blended with conventional jet fuel and then used in existing aircraft and engines. We recognise that SAF can be made from different low carbon feedstocks and technology pathways, and that the detail of these impact the lifecycle emission savings from the fuel. When using sustainable feedstocks, such as wastes or renewable electricity, to produce SAF, its use can reduce carbon emissions by 70% compared to conventional jet fuel.
The SAF mandate, which will mandate jet fuel suppliers to supply increasing levels of SAF in the UK, will start in 2025. As a greenhouse gas (GHG) based scheme, it will encourage suppliers to source SAF that achieves the greatest emission reductions. It will also require the supplied SAF to meet a minimum emission reduction threshold, further strengthening our intention to support SAF that meets the highest sustainability criteria.
In 2022, under the renewable transport fuel obligation (RTFO) 48 million litres of SAF were supplied in the UK, with a reported average of 90% emission reductions. We expect the SAF mandate to build upon these volumes and increase the demand for SAF in the UK.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the sustainable aviation fuel price support mechanism on the (a) price of such fuel and (b) adoption of (i) fuel-efficient technology and (ii) hydrogen implementation.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Government has committed to launching a consultation on the options for designing and implementing a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) revenue certainty scheme by the end of April 2024, in line with the statutory commitment made in the Energy Act 2023. This consultation, along with key Government policies such as the SAF mandate and Advanced Fuels Fund aim to support the development of a UK SAF industry.
Government will assess the impacts of a revenue certainty mechanism on fuel pricing and technology as part of that consultation.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of utilising UK Emissions Trading Scheme revenues from aviation to fund UK-based sustainable aviation fuel production.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Widespread hypothecation of tax revenues can undermine the government’s ability to flexibly manage the public finances.
Receipts from the ETS are used to fund the Net Zero transition, and public services more broadly, across the UK.
The UK’s SAF programme is one of the most comprehensive in the world. We are stimulating demand through our ambitious SAF mandate and are continuing to invest in domestic production to boost domestic supply and help to overcome the investment barrier of proving the technology at commercial scale.
Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to accelerate the (a) development and (b) commercialization of advanced low-carbon liquid fuel technologies.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has supported the uptake of low carbon fuels for 15 years through its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) scheme. The RTFO sets targets for the supply of low carbon fuels and sustainability criteria, which these fuels must meet. The RTFO has been highly successful in securing a market for the supply of low carbon liquid fuels in the UK.
Under current carbon budgets, low carbon fuels contribute a third of greenhouse gas (GHG) savings in the domestic transport sector. In 2022, low carbon fuel that were reported under the RTFO saved on average 82 per cent carbon emissions compared to the fossil fuels that they replaced, saving 7.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. In 2022, low carbon fuel made up 6.8 per cent of total road fuel supplied.
The Department plans to introduce a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) mandate from 2025, which will require at least ten per cent of UK aviation fuel to be made from sustainable sources from 2030. The Jet Zero Strategy set out that the use of SAF could contribute up to 17% of the emissions savings needed in the aviation sector by 2050.
The Department has accelerated the uptake of advanced low carbon fuels by allocating £171 million to advanced fuel demonstration projects through four competitions and is setting up a UK SAF Clearing House to support the testing and approval of advanced fuels for aviation.
The Department will also publish a Low Carbon Fuels Strategy to further support investment by setting out a vision for the deployment of low carbon fuels across transport modes up to 2050.
Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure a (a) secure and (b) sustainable supply chain for low-carbon liquid fuel.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has supported the uptake of low carbon fuels for 15 years through its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) scheme. The RTFO sets targets for the supply of low carbon fuels and sustainability criteria, which these fuels must meet. The RTFO has been highly successful in securing a market for the supply of low carbon liquid fuels in the UK.
Under current carbon budgets, low carbon fuels contribute a third of greenhouse gas (GHG) savings in the domestic transport sector. In 2022, low carbon fuel that were reported under the RTFO saved on average 82 per cent carbon emissions compared to the fossil fuels that they replaced, saving 7.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. In 2022, low carbon fuel made up 6.8 per cent of total road fuel supplied.
The Department plans to introduce a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) mandate from 2025, which will require at least ten per cent of UK aviation fuel to be made from sustainable sources from 2030. The Jet Zero Strategy set out that the use of SAF could contribute up to 17% of the emissions savings needed in the aviation sector by 2050.
The Department has accelerated the uptake of advanced low carbon fuels by allocating £171 million to advanced fuel demonstration projects through four competitions and is setting up a UK SAF Clearing House to support the testing and approval of advanced fuels for aviation.
The Department will also publish a Low Carbon Fuels Strategy to further support investment by setting out a vision for the deployment of low carbon fuels across transport modes up to 2050.