The wide-scale deployment of sustainable bio-jet fuels would result in emission reductions worth £37.41 billion in the UK between 2020 and 2050, according to a report released by the Policy Exchange think tank this week (21st July). The report, Green skies thinking: promoting the development and commercialisation of sustainable bio-jet fuels, recommends the setting of achievable and enforceable targets for replacing standard kerosene jet fuel with  bio-jet fuel from 2020, through the implementation of an EU-wide Sustainable Bio-jet Fuel Blending Mandate.

This mandate on the proportion of jet fuel derived from or blended with sustainable bio-jet fuel would, it says, rise from 20% in 2020 to 80% in 2050. This would result in reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from the UK and EU aviation sectors of 15% in 2020 and 60% in 2050 relative to current predictions.

Author of the report and Head of Policy Exchange’s Energy & Environment Unit Ben Caldecott said:

“If left unchecked emissions from aviation are set to account for up to a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

“We know that the majority of people - 61% - don’t think that the aviation sector is sufficiently concerned about the environment, but at the same time, we also know that lots of people still want to be able to appreciate the benefits of flying abroad.

“We do need to look at reducing demand for flights, but switching from standard jet fuel to sustainable bio-jet fuel is currently the only viable option to significantly reduce emissions from the flights that remain. Biofuels in aviation can also be delivered in sufficient quantities to meet global demand – unlike biofuels for road transport”

The report’s recommendations include:

 • To create demand for sustainable bio-jet fuels an EU Sustainable Bio-jet Fuel Blending Mandate should be introduced from 2020. This Mandate would set out clearly and credibly that a rising proportion of jet fuel must come from or be blended with sustainable bio-jet fuels.  This Mandate on the proportion of jet fuel derived from or blended with sustainable bio-jet fuel would start from 20% in 2020 and rise to 80% in 2050 and would secure respective reductions in GHG emissions from the UK and EU aviation sectors of 15% and 60% relative to current predictions.

The cumulative emission reductions of our proposals from 2020 to 2050 are valued in 2009 prices at £37.41 billion in the UK and £305.45 billion across the EU.

• The cost of deploying sustainable bio-jet fuels should be minimised.  These proposals could mean bio-jet fuel production costs fall to around US$80 per barrel by 2030, with production costs falling further to around US$70 per barrel by 2050. This compares well with average jet fuel prices of US$62.29 per barrel from 2000 to 2008 and the jet fuel price peak of July 2008 when it reached US$167.70 per barrel.

• In the UK we should increase support for companies conducting R&D into the production of sustainable bio-jet fuels.   The Government’s current R&D tax credit regime should be extended for companies which conduct research into sustainable bio-jet fuels in the UK. We propose that these companies be allowed to claim an additional 40% of eligible R&D spend against their taxable profits.  The introduction of this additional support is estimated to cost less than £5 million per annum and would make the UK one of the most supportive tax regimes for sustainable bio-jet fuel R&D in the world.

• We should invest in the methodologies and regulatory bodies needed to ensure that bio-jet fuels are produced sustainably and deliver dramatic life-cycle GHG emission reductions.  In the UK, the Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA), currently the administrative body for the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), should be charged with drawing up and enforcing these standards.