Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current UK capacity to produce sustainable aviation fuel; what will be the capacity required to meet their Jet Zero Strategy targets; and whether they are on track to achieve the Jet Zero Strategy targets.

The Jet Zero Strategy sets a clear goal of net zero aviation emissions by 2050 but recognises that there are multiple pathways to achieving that goal. In the “Jet Zero illustrative scenarios and sensitivities” document published alongside the Jet Zero Strategy four different scenarios assume different levels of sustainable aviation fuel uptake by 2050.

To track progress against targets, the Government has set a CO2 emissions reduction trajectory based on the “high ambition” scenario that sees UK aviation emissions peak in 2019. Provisional estimates for 2022 UK international aviation greenhouse gas emissions show that they are 29% below 2019 levels. Progress will be monitored against the emissions reduction trajectory on an annual basis from 2025 and the overall strategic approach reviewed every five years.

The Government is introducing an ambitious set of policies to support the growth of the UK Sustainble Aviation Fuel sector and meet Jet Zero targets. Emissions savings are being secured through a mandate, which will be introduced from 2025 and will require at least 10% of UK aviation fuel to be derived from sustainable sources by 2030. In the 2023 consultation, the trajectories for sustainable aviation fuel uptake from 2025 to 2040 demonstrated how these trajectories align with the 2050 scenarios and ambition set out in the Jet Zero Strategy.

The Government is also kick starting a domestic sustainable aviation fuel industry through £165 million funding from the Advanced Fuels Fund to support first of a kind plants to reach commercial scale. The UK does not currently have any large scale dedicated production facilities, but this funding will help to deliver the commitment to have at least five commercial SAF plants under construction in the UK by 2025. The Government has also recently committed to design and implement a revenue certainty mechanism to further support the development of a UK industry. The government has published a delivery plan, outlining how such a scheme can be delivered by 2026.