Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is currently the most credible pathway to deliver the UK’s Jet Zero Strategy by 2050. With high barriers to zero emission flight and delays to more efficient aircraft, accelerating and scaling up SAF development is urgent. It can be used in existing aircraft without modifications, but high costs and limited supply are restricting wider adoption.
The UK’s SAF Mandate will require all departing flights to use an increasing amount of SAF in their fuel mix – starting at 2% in 2025, rising to 10% by 2030 and 22% by 2040. To stimulate domestic production, the UK Government has introduced the Revenue Certainty Mechanism (RCM) and Advanced Fuels Fund (AFF). These measures aim to de-risk investment and attract private capital to scale up UK production of SAF and e-SAF. However, the UK still has a long way to travel – and fast.
Our roundtable brought together fuel producers and suppliers, investors, airlines, airports, policymakers, feedstock developers and aviation fuel pipeline and terminal owners to discuss the challenges and opportunities in enabling SAF development. In this report, we share their insights into how the UK can advance large-scale projects to final investment decision and open routes to market.