Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to help ensure the accuracy of the information published online setting out the carbon footprint of different modes of transport; and whether his Department has made an estimate of the reduction of emissions for the aviation sector in the UK delivered through use of sustainable aviation fuel by (a) 2030, (b) 2040 and (c) 2050.

The Department for Transport publishes journey emissions comparisons as part of its annual Transport and the Environment publication. These are Official Statistics, held to the standards laid out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Detailed information for users regarding the strengths and weaknesses of these statistics, as well as information on the underlying methodology from the Department for Transport, and the Green House Gas conversion factors published by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero used to produce these statistics, are available at the links given below:

Department for Transport, Journey emissions comparisons: Methodology and guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transport-energy-and-environment-statistics-notes-and-definitions/journey-emissions-comparisons-methodology-and-guidance

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2022, methodology:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2022

The Jet Zero Strategy, published in July 2022, set out the Government’s approach to achieving net zero for the UK aviation sector by 2050. Four analytical scenarios were produced as part of the strategy, setting out a range of emissions pathways for the sector, under various assumptions on the likely uptake of different decarbonisation technologies, including SAF.

Further detail on the Jet Zero Strategy and the underpinning analysis can be found here: Jet Zero strategy: delivering net zero aviation by 2050 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

More recently, the Government has published a second consultation on a SAF mandate, to be introduced from 2025.

Further detail on the SAF mandate can be found here: Pathway to net zero aviation: developing the UK sustainable aviation fuel mandate - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)