Europe's ambition for biofuels in aviation - A strategic review of challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Europe's Biofuel FlightPath Initiative was introduced in 2011 with the aim of producing two million tons of biojet fuel derived from renewable sources for the aviation industry by 2020. This volume, equating to approximately 4% of current EU jet fuel consumption has not yet materialized and Europe's biojet fuel industry is in a nascent state. To date surface transport in the EU has benefited from the push effect of renewable transport targets and this has led to the development of a biodiesel and bioethanol industry in the EU to meet the demand created. Biojet fuel has not benefited from this uplift with only one Member State (Netherlands) acknowledging the option of biojet fuel as a means of contribution to the renewable transport target. Higher costs, investor uncertainty and poor policy awareness at Member State level have contributed to the nascent state of biojet fuel in Europe. A clear and stable policy landscape for biojet fuel can help mitigate some of these issues. However, other non-policy measures are also required to overcome these challenges. This review surveys the challenges and opportunities for a nascent biojet fuel sector in Europe and presents options to stimulate the sector.