EU to invest greener fuels for air, sea transport

The European Union's executive arm, the European Commission, has announced plans for a major investment in green fuels in the aviation and maritime sectors, which are major contributors to the bloc's carbon emissions, as it is in danger of falling behind in achieving its target of decarbonizing heavy transport by 2050.

Currently, air and sea transport is largely fossil-fueled and accounts for more than one-quarter of all EU transport emissions. The Commission estimates that around 20 million metric tons of alternative fuels such as biofuel will be required by 2035 to meet green targets in those two sectors, which will require an extra investment of around 100 billion euros ($115 billion). The latest proposals will provide an additional 3 billion euros' worth of funding.

"The package is about strengthening Europe's competitiveness while moving decisively towards a net-zero future," said Apostolos Tzitzikostas, commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism. It showed, he continued, "the Commission's firm commitment to scaling up renewable and low-carbon fuels in aviation and waterborne transport.

"Success will depend on close cooperation among member states, industry, financiers and civil society to turn this challenge into a strategic opportunity for Europe."

The Euronews website reports that from 2035 onwards, EU airports should have 20 percent of their fuel supply coming from sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, which takes in products derived from things like used cooking oil or agricultural waste. Five percent needs to be another variant called eSAF, a type of synthetic fuel made from renewable electricity and others.

By the year 2050, the green share of aviation fuel should be 70 percent, of which half should be eSAF, but despite more than 40 projects of eSAF production being at various stages of planning, none is yet at a stage where a decision can be made about investment, and progress towards those targets is behind schedule.

The maritime sector is currently working towards a short-term target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 to 2025 by two percent, and by 2050, the figure is 80 percent.

Jim Corbett, the World Shipping Council's environmental director for Europe, said his group welcomed the investment, adding that it "sets out a framework for financing to unlock investments and scale up production of renewable and low-carbon fuels. Now the strategy must be taken forward in ways that deliver real impact on maritime decarbonization".

Sotiris Raptis, secretary-general of the European Community Shipowners' Associations, also responded positively, saying that the addition investment in the Sustainable Transport Investment Plan, or STIP, was "putting investments in clean fuels at the center of the competitiveness agenda", which could enable his group's decarbonizing ambitions to become reality.

"These investments are necessary for retaining industrial capacity, for enhancing competitiveness, for reducing energy dependencies and for getting to net-zero," he added.

However, Ourania Georgoutsakou, managing director of European aviation trade body Airlines for Europe, said real change needed financial support as well as targets to be achievable, with a reduction in the cost of SAF being essential.