Final Deal Reached on ReFuelEU Aviation: New EU Law to Cut Flights’ CO2 Emissions through Quotas for CCU Fuels

One of the remaining files on Fit for 55 to be adopted was ReFuelEU Aviation, aiming to set quotas for the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) in planes, and in particular of renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs), to help defossilise the sector and decrease its carbon footprint.

On the 25th of April, the EU institutions announced that a deal was reached and it includes mandatory shares of SAFs to be available at airports, starting at 2% of overall fuel supplied by 2025 and reaching 70% by 2050. It also includes mandatory RFNBOs sub-quotas of 1.2% in 2030 all the way to 35% in 2050. The deal also appears to modify the scope of eligible fuels considered under the SAF definition (including recycled carbon fuels and non-fossil low carbon fuels). But the exact detail and impact of those modifications will need to be assessed when the final text is published.

The final legislation sends an unprecedented signal to the industry to ramp up the production of synthetic aviation fuels and for carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) projects to deploy with legal certainty and long-term visibility.

Just prior to the final adoption of ReFuelEU Aviation, CO₂ Value Europe had cosigned a letter with other industry players to call for ambitious synthetic aviation fuels quotas to be enshrined into law, in order to give a crystal clear signal to airlines, fuels producers and technology providers that the time is now to intensify the production of CCU fuels.

Find more about ReFuelEU Aviation here.

Find our joint Letter calling for ambitious sub-quotas in the ReFuelEU Aviation here.