Alternative Aviation Fuels: Not All Are Created Equal!

This article was originally published in our "Décryptage Mobilité" newsletter. To receive future articles by email as soon as they are published, Subscribe now. By Nicolas Meunier – Consultant

Élisabeth Borne, Minister of Ecological and Solidarity Transition, and Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, Secretary of State for Transportation, were in Toulouse in late January to announce the National Roadmap for Sustainable Aviation Fuels. [1] This roadmap follows a Commitment to Green Growth (ECV) signed two years earlier with industry partners Air France, Airbus, Safran, Total, and Suez Environnement. This is the first public announcement regarding the ECV since its signing, and while it does not provide any tangible results, It renews hope that an industrial sector for alternative fuels will take shape in practice. The roadmap is based on two quantified goals: a a 2% blend of aviation biofuels by 2025, and 5% by 2030. These goals are similar to those set for 2025 by the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as part of an ambitious incentive policy.

Conversely, the their ambitions are far less thanthe 30% biofuel target for 2030 set by the three Scandinavian countries. [2] The enthusiasm for alternative aviation fuels is evident: in the United Kingdom, the aviation sector also presented its roadmap on the subject this week, with this type of fuel accounting for 20% of the emissions reduction needed to achieve their goal of “carbon neutrality” by 2050 (though the very concept of carbon neutrality is highly debatable, given how it is defined). [3] Why is there such interest in these liquid alternative fuels? Because For the aviation sector, there are no other credible alternatives to fossil jet fuel by 2050, since technologies that rely solely on electricity or hydrogen are not yet mature enough to be developed outside of niche markets within the given timeframe. And while certain energy-efficiency measures, such as eco-driving or air traffic optimization, are promising, The greatest opportunities for decarbonizing the aviation sector lie in moderating traffic growth, fleet renewal, and the development of alternative fuels.

However, Not all of these new aviation fuels are created equal! There is a wide variety of these fuels, depending on the feedstock used (agricultural crops, forest residues, municipal waste, etc.) and the production process employed. In addition to biomass-based feedstocks, let’s not forget about electrofuels produced from CO₂, water, and electricity, one of whose production methods was already discussed in a previous article in Mobility Insights. Among this variety of alternative fuels, the carbon footprint varies widely, particularly Fuel produced from palm or soy has a carbon footprint 2 to 2.5 times greater than that of fossil kerosene due to land-use change, according to the ICCT. [4]

  It is therefore It is essential to carefully select the aviation fuel supply chains to support. The government reiterated this point recently in Toulouse, but the matter seems much less clear when reading the memos from the General Directorate of Customs. regarding palm oil derivatives. [5] The case concerns PFAD (Palm Fatty Acid Distillate), a byproduct of palm oil with a carbon footprint equivalent to that of palm oil when used in biofuels.
Last June, a memo stated that PFADs would no longer be eligible for the tax incentive for the incorporation of biofuels in France starting in 2020, but In December, PFADs were finally included in the tax incentive program in a separate memo. This comes even though the attempt to maintain the tax regime for palm oil had already sparked an outcry in the National Assembly last November. [6] When questioned, both Minister Élisabeth Borne and the Council of State stated that they were not in a position to provide a quick response and intend to rule on the matter by summer 2020… It is important to note that l’The stakes are high for Total, as it plans to use PFADs at its La Mède biorefinery, amounting to approximately 100,000 metric tons per year, primarily from Malaysia and Indonesia, according to Novethic. Amid this governmental inconsistency, it is important to remember that the promising solution of alternative fuels must not overshadow its ultimate goal: reducing the carbon footprint.

Sources: [1] Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition [2] Reuters [3] Sustainable Aviation [4] ICCT [5] Novethic [6] RTL