EU parliament rules out palm product SAF amid airline, NGO pressure

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - The European Parliament voted Thursday to rule out the use of controversial feedstocks to meet the EU's ReFuelEU sustainable aviation fuel targets after concerted pressure this week from airlines and green lobbyists.

Industry group Airlines for Europe (A4E) had urged the parliament to reject the proposal to add more feedstocks, while EasyJet and lobby group Transport & Environment penned a joint letter to MEPs slamming the inclusion of palm oil by-products in the plans.

Parliament's adopted position on ReFuelEU increased SAF targets substantially from the Commission's proposal, which could prove more costly for the airline industry regardless of the feedstocks used, but widened the definition of SAF to allow greater supply.

A4E called the additional feedstocks "unsustainable" prior to the vote and asked for a return to the initial Commission definition of SAF, citing a risk that public support for SAF mandates, which will inevitably add to the cost of plane tickets in the EU, could be hit.

Instead, blending targets should focus on quality over quantity and stick to the Commission's proposed 5% target for 2030 while limiting the feedstock pool, it said.

While palm oil by-products, including palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD), were ruled out, additional animal fats would be allowed to make SAF per the parliament's position, which T&E said would lead to a substitution for palm oil in other sectors instead.

European waste-based and advanced biofuel industry group EWABA welcomed the vote though, saying that the changes would help mitigate "a major diversion of waste lipid feedstocks towards aviation from more efficient uses in the road/heavy duty and maritime transport sectors."

Additions 

The amendments also added SAF from electricity, renewable hydrogen and waste gases, as well as a book-and-claim system for managing blend targets, which were asked for by the airline industry.

"Aviation is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise. Today we showed how to do this and sent a strong and ambitious signal to the citizens of Europe," said rapporteur Søren Gade after the vote.

Targets were agreed by MEPs at 6% for 2030, up from a proposed 5%, 37% for 2040, up from 32%, 54% for 2045 up from 38% and 85% for 2050, up from 63%.

The Commission's proposed 2025 target of 2% and 2035 target of 20% were left unchanged.

Parliament will now enter negotiations with member states on the final text of ReFuelEU.

Member states already agreed last month to raise blend targets from the commission proposal, expand the definition of SAF to include more waste feedstocks and set more aggressive sub-targets for synthetic SAF.

Both parliament and member states ruled out including SAF made from food or feed crops.