Eight companies have been shortlisted to receive a share of £15m to develop production plants that will turn waste into jet fuel.
Shortlisted proposals include plants aiming to produce jet fuel from:
According to the government, sustainable aviation fuel could generate between £700m and £1,660m annually and create over 11,000 green jobs by 2040.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘Aviation will be central to our future growth and plans to build back greener from the pandemic, which is why we have invested over £20m in the past year to decarbonise the sector in line with our world-leading net-zero targets.
‘With 100 days to go until COP26, we’re ramping up our efforts even further to help companies break ground on trailblazing waste to jet fuel plants and put the UK at the forefront of international SAF production.’
Launched today, the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) mandate consultation sets out options for sustainable fuel adoption in the UK and signals to investors the vital role it will play in the UK aviation sector as we build back greener from the pandemic.
The government has proposed to increase SAF production by 10% 2030 and up to 75% SAF by 2050.
This consultation follows the Jet Zero Consultation announced last week alongside the Transport Decarbonisation Plan. The Jet Zero Consultation commits the aviation sector to a net-zero emissions target by 2050, and a domestic target of net zero emissions by 2040.
Photo by Iwan Shimko