The European Parliament on Thursday voted to prohibit the use of controversial biofuel feedstocks from Europe’s aviation green fuel mandate, known as ReFuelEU.
In a narrow vote the parliament rejected a proposal that would have expanded the definition of sustainable aviation fuels to include palm oil by-products and intermediate crops.
Campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) hailed the decision an important step towards decarbonising Europe’s aviation industry, but stressed more needs to be done.
T&E aviation policy officer, Matteo Mirolo, implored EU lawmakers to also exclude animal fats from biofuel production.
“If we are serious about fighting climate change and decarbonising aviation, Europe needs to make more choices like the one we witnessed [on Thursday]. Sustainable aviation fuels should have no link whatsoever to deforestation, loss of biodiversity and increasing food prices,” he said.
Ahead of the vote, T&E, easyJet and association Airlines for Europe lobbied MEPs of the Transport Committee to draw attention to the environmental impacts of palm oil production, which causes widespread deforestation.
Amid plans to scale-up production of sustainable aviation fuel, the Parliament showed preference for synthetic fuels over biofuels, increasing proposed volumes so that by 2050 half of the total jet fuel use in Europe will be synthetic. In addition, the Commission expanded the definition of synthetic aviation fuels to renewable electricity and green hydrogen.
In doing so, Mirolo said the Parliament has paved the way to regulate the quality of fuel – marking a significant step towards reducing non-CO2 emissions that account for two thirds of aviation’s climate impact.
“Decarbonising the aviation sector is no easy task, but airlines, environmentalists and politics alike have sided with the needs of the planet,” Mirolo added.