Impacts on industrial-scale market deployment of advanced biofuels and recycled carbon fuels from the EU Renewable Energy Directive II

Alternative and Renewable Transport Fuels, grouping both Advanced Biofuels and Recycled Carbon fuels, are key routes for the decarbonisation of European Union (EU) and global transports: being sustainable transports a policy-driven area, the development and deployment of advanced biofuels and recycled carbon fuels will depend on well-designed regulatory frameworks. EU just ended the elaboration of the new Renewable Energy Directive (REDII), which includes specific provisions for sustainable fuels. In this context, air transport is among the most critical sectors to decarbonize, given the limited number of other options that can be adopted, such as optimization of flight routes, increase of jet engine energy efficiency, and few others. Overall, EU transports increased GreenHouse Gas (GHG) Emissions since 1990, while all other energy sectors succeeded in achieving a constant reduction over the same period. Aviation is steadily growing worldwide as well as in the EU, representing one of the most critical areas. This article investigates REDII and its implications on the different fuel production and utilisations sectors: opportunities and barriers from the new EU policy framework for these areas are identified and discussed. The large-scale deployment of these fuels will require large investments in new production facilities, to achieve considerable reductions in production costs (over the entire value chain, i.e. from feedstock production, collection and delivery, to conversion and supply). Moreover, in the specific case of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), significant investments in applying to and completing the ASTM certification for new jet fuels. In this respect, proper coordination between the REDII and the UN ICAO CORSIA programme will be essential to ensure large scale SAF market penetration.