Nuclear envelope7/13/2023 In some aspects, it resembles the development of the EU’s famous Precautionary Principle. This speaks volumes about the regulatory shift with regard to aviation and climate occurring in Europe. It is also no coincidence that ReFuelEU compliance oversight is put in the hands of the European Aviation Safety Agency while the amended aviation ETS calls for the Commission to propose specific legislation to tackle non-CO2 emissions. However, more research is needed for these to be effectively maximised which is why obligations to monitor non-CO2 effects are now included in both the REFuelEU and revised aviation EU ETS. The good news is that SAF contains significantly less contrail-causing substances which means the ReFuelEU initiative will deliver benefits on both the CO2 and non-CO2 fronts. Multiple studies are looking at adjusting flight altitude and trajectories to avoid contrail formation, but this can often result in greater aircraft fuel burn, potentially eliminating the benefits. These can in turn transition into contrail cirrus clouds that have a predominantly warming effect by trapping heat closer to the surface. One easily observed result from that interaction is the formation of condensation trails or contrails. Research on the matter is ongoing, partly because the different compounds involved in non-CO2 emissions enter a complex interplay with the atmosphere. The current scientific consensus is that the radiative forcing they cause is at least equivalent to that of CO2 and could in fact be greater by a factor of two. Together with the recent revision of the EU Emissions Trading System, the ReFuelEU includes provisions for non-CO2 emissions. The first is the explicit acknowledgment of climate impacts resulting from aircraft emissions beyond carbon dioxide. It will also help European airlines boost their green credentials by making increasing quantities available to them at EU airports.īeyond its immense importance for the decarbonisation of the sector, the legislation has two key components that make it a true watershed moment in aviation environmental policy. The significantly bigger scope and depth of ReFuelEU Aviation make it a game changer for the nascent SAF industry in Europe, charting a path thru the economic Valley of Death, the time span from demonstration to scale-up that alternative energy projects have historically faced. When I started working on alternative fuels back in 2019, already five different production processes had been certified to meet the strict international specifications for jet fuel and Norway had just decided to introduce a blending mandate. The idea of SAF uptake obligations is certainly not new in Europe and neither are the fundamental principles of producing it. The details of the deal have been under discussion long enough for the term SAF – or Sustainable Aviation Fuel – to become mainstream in aviation policy circles. Nearly two years after the publication of the initial proposal by the Commission, the use of jet fuel of non-fossil origin will become mandatory in the EU starting in 2025. Late April saw the adoption of ReFuelEU Aviation’s final draft, a key piece of legislation designed to kick-start the decarbonisation of European air transport by making the use of alternative fuels compulsory.īeyond its importance for a technology long in need of the right kind of incentives, it represents a subtle but fundamental regulatory shift by acknowledging two emergent realities: that CO2 is only one part of a complex equation that SAF will be fundamental in solving and that rapidly reducing air transport’s climate impact is essentially a matter of safety. New EU legislation marks a watershed in aviation climate regulation, acknowledging both the need to tackle the non-CO2 effects of flying and the safety challenges posed to air transport by climate change, writes Denis Bilyarski.ĭenis Bilyarski is an aviation decarbonisation and climate safety researcher.
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