The UK government has announced £219 million in funding for projects designed to accelerate local production of alternative aviation fuels, also known as ‘sustainable’ aviation fuels (SAF).
The new Low Carbon Fuels Fund will launch “later this summer” and aims to strengthen the UK’s domestic SAF industry by supporting projects developing low carbon fuels.
Companies can bid for a share of the funds from mid-July, according to a statement from the Department for Transport, which will prioritise projects nearing the production stage.
The £219 funding builds on the previously introduced Advanced Fuels Fund, which currently supports several projects dedicated to the production of alternative aviation fuels as part of the UK’s Jet Zero Strategy to decarbonise aviation by 2050.
Alongside the new fund, the government on Tuesday (16 June) also launched a call for evidence on the UK SAF Mandate, which requires an increasing proportion of jet fuel supplied in the UK to be ‘sustainable’. Similar to the EU’s blending mandate, the UK mandate requires that at least 10 per cent of jet fuel be produced from sustainable sources by 2030. This will increase to 22 per cent by 2040.
According to the DfT, the call for evidence will explore current global supply projections for different types of alternative aviation fuel and how this may impact the ability to meet SAF Mandate targets in the coming years.
The department stressed that its “collaborative approach with industry” aims to ensure the SAF Mandate “remains responsive to an evolving market” and that overall mandate targets are not under consideration for reduction.
The DfT's call for evidence will assess global supply forecasts for alternative aviation fuels and how they affect SAF Mandate targets. The department emphasised that this “collaborative approach with industry” is to ensure the mandate “remains responsive to an evolving market”, and that overall targets are not under consideration for reduction.
In its statement, the DfT added that the UK is “already seeing encouraging growth in SAF supply”.