Plan for increased use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) aims to have an annual production of 200,000 tonnes of green kerosene by 2030. Politicians and representatives of interest groups came together on Friday (7 May) to announce that they had come to an agreement on the German roadmap towards production of sustainable PtL kerosene, a type of electro-fuel. PtL kerosene is created from water, CO2, and electricity. If the electricity used stems from renewable sources, PtL kerosene is practically carbon neutral. PtL kerosene is still far from competitive, which is why the German plan foresees a two-pronged approach of subsidizing research as well as production of PtL kerosene. It furthermore envisions a demand-side opt-in programme by which the relevant industries agree to purchase certain quantities of the fuel despite the higher price point. The German roadmap was released ahead of the publication of the ReFuelEU Aviation initiative, an EU proposal to increase the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) such as PtL across the bloc.
It is expected that the EU proposal will set a staggered mandate for the use of SAFs, obliging all aircraft refueling at airports within the bloc to use green jet fuel. Doing so is intended to bolster the SAF market, increasing supply and dropping the cost. A source with knowledge of ReFuelEU told EURACTIV that the proposal will likely set a SAF mandate of 2% in 2025, moving to 5% in 2030, 20% in 2035, 32% in 2040, and 63% in 2050. A sub mandate for PtL is also being considered, potentially starting at 0.7% in 2030 and increasing to 25% by 2050. The initiative, will likely take the form of a regulation, meaning it will be immediately applicable across all EU countries. Legal certainty has been something of a rare commodity for companies in Germany over the past years, with changes in the political consensus prompting arbitration proceedings, and federal court judgements overruling legislation in multiple instances. These include struggles of companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, or the stagnating expansion of wind farms, upon which the PtL roadmap hinges.