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‘Ministers like to make out that alternative fuels will be the big solution . . . but these fuels will be in limited supply and most will be produced using wastes,’ says AEF’s Cait Hewitt
Environmentalists slam ‘woeful’ SAF mandate
Eco lobbyists say government target prioritises airlines’ profits. Ian Taylor reports She suggested: “For the time being,
Aviation environmental groups have criticised the government’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate, saying it does not go far enough. The SAF mandate will require
increasing amounts of alternative fuels to be blended with kerosene from next year, but the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) said: “Making jet fuel from waste won’t solve aviation’s emissions problem.” It noted that while SAFs are
produced from sources other than fossil fuel, they release just as much CO2 as oil-derived jet fuel (kerosene) once burned in an aircraft engine. Any emissions reductions overall
48 2 MAY 2024
depend on the feedstock for the fuel. AEF policy director Cait
Hewitt said: “Ministers and the aviation industry like to make out that alternative fuels will be the big solution for tackling aviation emissions. But the truth is these fuels will be in limited supply and most will be produced using wastes. “That doesn’t reduce CO2 – it just
takes carbon, like plastic bottles in a rubbish dump, and puts it back in the atmosphere. It’s not even sustainable.” Hewitt argued: “What we really
need is a reduction in aviation emissions. A percentage mandate for alternative fuel in an industry hungry for growth can’t guarantee that.”
the best way to cut emissions from flying is to fly less.” Matt Finch, UK policy manager at
Transport & Environment, described the SAF mandate as “woefully unambitious”, saying: “Despite the name, not all SAFs are genuinely sustainable, and with this mandate the government has decided to put airline profits above the planet by allowing in huge quantities of dubious SAF. “There are already huge problems
with the waste oils we convert into biodiesel for cars, and the government
Continued on page 46
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