The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement tonight for 2% of the fuel used by jets to be sustainable from 2025 and 70% by 2050.
The agreement, which still needs to be approved by the ambassadors of the Twenty-seven before the European institutions and Parliament’s Transport and Tourism committee, and then by the Council and Parliament as a whole, establishes that at least 2% of fuels aviation to be green in the EU by 2025, with this proportion increasing every five years.
In this way it will have to be at least 6% in 2030, 20% in 2035, 34% in 2040, 42% in 2045 and 70% in 2050, specified the European Parliament and the Swedish presidency of the Council of the EU in a statement .
In addition, a specific proportion of the fuel mix (1.2% in 2030, 2% in 2032, 5% in 2035 and progressively reaching 35% in 2050) must include synthetic fuels such as e-kerosene.
This is the last dossier that remained to be agreed in the area of ??transport contained in the titanic legislative package baptized by the European Commission as “Fit for 55” (“Fit for 55”), in reference to the objective of reducing emissions of CO2 in 2030 at least 55% compared to 1990, compared to the current 40% up to now, an intermediate goal to achieve decarbonization by mid-century.
“We have achieved a good agreement for Europe and for countries like Spain that depend directly on tourism and aviation,” said Citizens MEP José Ramón Bauzá, speaker at the inter-institutional negotiation for the implementation and start-up of sustainable fuels for aviation (SAF).
Under the agreement, the term “sustainable aviation fuels” will include synthetic fuels, certain biofuels produced from agricultural or forest residues, algae, biowaste, used cooking oil or certain animal fats, and recycled aviation fuels produced from greenhouse gases. waste and waste plastic.
However, fuels based on food and feed crops and fuels derived from palm and soybean materials will not be considered green as they do not align with sustainability criteria.
The provisional agreement also includes renewable hydrogen as part of a sustainable fuel mix, a “promising” technology that could progressively contribute to the decarbonization of air transport, the European Parliament highlighted.
The agreement also includes the implementation of a new voluntary environmental labeling for airplanes and airlines in order to demonstrate their environmental performance.
The labeling will measure the carbon footprint per passenger, the CO2 levels emitted per passenger or the efficiency of the aircraft.
It will take into account the aircraft model, the number of passengers, the weight or the type of fuel used and will be subject to common scientific criteria established by the European Aviation Safety Agency.
This label will allow passengers to compare the environmental compliance of flights operated by different companies on the same route.
Proceeds from non-compliance fines by airlines, airports or fuel suppliers will go towards research and innovation to bridge the price gap between sustainable and conventional fuels.
However, the possibility is introduced for the competent authorities of the Member States to grant an exemption from the provisions relating to transport in tanks for certain flights in the event of serious and recurring operational difficulties or structural difficulties in the supply of fuel according to criteria identified, the Council specified.
“We cannot allow the obligation to refuel biofuels to end up having an impact on the cost of the airlines and therefore on the price of plane tickets, which is why the agreement contemplates mechanisms for flexibility and control of supply and prices,” Bauzá stressed. in a statement issued by Ciudadanos.
The agreement, according to Ciudadanos, includes that the airlines that use SAF can compensate the obligatory payment of CO2 emission rights, especially for those flights that operate in island territories such as the Balearic Islands.
Among the exemptions is one for the outermost regions, which would not be subject to the new regulations, unless they decide to be part of the new biofuels market, which would benefit the Canary Islands, heavily dependent on tourism and aviation, Ciudadanos added. .
Civil aviation accounts for 13.4% of total CO2 emissions from EU transport.
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