Sustainable aviation fuel not a ‘silver bullet' to decarbonisation, warns MP

Labour MP Ruth Cadbury, who chairs the Transport Committee, urged the Government to 'look beyond' SAF in its mission to reduce carbon emissions.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she is 'determined to make rapid progress' on the roll-out of SAF, to ensure Britain can continue to 'grow and thrive'.
In January, the Government introduced a mandate which requires an increasing amount of sustainable fuel to be used by jets, with the aim of ensuring 22% of all jet fuel comes from sustainable sources by 2040.
Opening a debate on the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill, Ms Alexander said she wants to see more passengers 'take to the skies, not less'.
She told MPs: 'We're determined to make rapid progress on this issue, because we do have an ironclad belief that our success as an island nation rests on our international connectivity.
'The flow of trade, exporting British expertise, the movement of people for business and leisure, all depend on aviation continuing to grow and thrive.
'We could put our head in the sand and pretend people do not want to fly, pretend the sector does not support hundreds of thousands of jobs, that people do not look forward to foreign holidays or family reunions, that air freight isn't a significant part of our trade by value, but we'd be on the wrong side of both reality and public aspiration.
'The truth is, demand for flight is only going in one direction. According to the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority), passenger levels were 7% higher in 2024 than the previous year.
'If we do not respond, if we don't set aviation up for long-term success, we don't just make ourselves poorer today, we kiss goodbye to the growth and opportunity this country needs in the decades to come.
'So I'm clear, I want a future where more passengers can take to the skies, not less. But like the rest of our economy, that must mean emitting less carbon, not more. This Bill will help to secure that future.'
Intervening, Conservative MP Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) said: 'I gather that only last week, the International Air Transport Association highlighted the fact that sustainable aviation fuels, at the moment, cost approximately five times the cost of conventional jet fuel.
'Can she explain how the measures in the Bill will bridge that gap to make it economical?'
Ms Alexander replied: 'There is constrained supply at the moment, we have one commercial production facility in the UK at Immingham.'
She added: 'What we need to do is build investor confidence to commercialise some of the demonstration projects in sustainable aviation fuel that exists around the country.'
During the second reading debate, Ms Cadbury said: 'I know that we need to see changes in aviation to meet our really ambitious climate goals, now that aviation and shipping are included in our carbon budget, this is even more important.
'I hope that the Government will also look beyond SAF when thinking about decarbonising aviation. SAF is not and will not be the silver bullet solution to the sector's responsibility, to this country's decarbonisation strategy.'
The MP for Brentford and Isleworth added: 'The Climate Change Committee warned this Parliament in 2023 that relying on SAF alone was, I quote, high risk.
'For example, Heathrow Airport is already the single greatest source of carbon emissions in the UK, and the current plans for expansion will add an extra eight to nine megatons of CO2 a year.
'And if the Government do expand Heathrow, then it will mean that other airports across the UK would face having to make cuts to ensure that aviation didn't reach its carbon targets.
'Or, furthermore, and probably both, as continuing increases in aviation emissions grow, that will have to be offset against significant cuts in emissions in other sectors.
'So I ask the Transport Secretary, what is the Government doing to address that particular challenge?'
Shadow transport minister Gareth Bacon branded the Government's pledge to begin work on the Heathrow expansion in this Parliament as 'very far-fetched'.
He added: 'There are substantial logistical and financial barriers to its construction, and so far, the Government has provided no solutions on these points.'

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