Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of (a) the level of demand for sustainable aviation fuel and (b) the amount of renewable, waste derived feedstocks required to meet that demand.

As the UK moves towards reaching net zero by 2050, interest in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) continues to grow. Industry and governments globally expect that SAF will play a key role in the decarbonisation of the aviation sector, particularly for long-haul flights which cannot currently be decarbonised by other means.

As part of the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, the Government announced the intention to consult on a SAF blending mandate to drive SAF uptake in the UK. This consultation was published in July and is open to responses until 19 September. The consultation sets out a variety of potential SAF uptake scenarios, which go up to 10 percent SAF by 2030 and up to 75 percent by 2050. The level of ambition will be determined by the Government following the consultation.

The level of demand will also impact the amount of feedstock required. The modelling supporting the consultation takes into consideration the interactions between fuels needed for road, non-road mobile machinery and aviation, and the availability of sustainable feedstocks and renewable fuels. A summary of responses and next steps will be published in due course, and the modelling will be updated to take into account evidence from the consultation.