That Was The Week That Was 28 June-02 July 2021
Finally, a roadmap we can use!
We love our roadmaps in aviation. We demand them for everything, despite the unique feature of aviation being that it does not use roads. So it was tea and medals all round this week when we finally found a roadmap that was actually relevant to aviation. It is not about aviation, it is actually about, er, cars but that is near enough.
It turns out that the push to electrify cars to reduce emissions is a Bad Thing for aviation. The push, which includes tax breaks and a rush to introduce charging points has now got to the point that Volkswagen, one of the world’s largest car makers, has announced that it will no longer make internal combustion engine cars by 2035. It will only make electric vehicles. You may think that a good thing, reducing emissions and saving the planet. But will no-one think of aviation?
The bio-fuel industry is outraged. A move to electric propulsion will mean that there is little need for their product – unless you are in aviation of course, or perhaps shipping. The Commission is reported to be pushing the use of LPG for shipping. A fossil fuel but a cleaner one. We can only await with bated breath the announcement of a roadmap for the maritime industry to make that happen. That leaves aviation to be the principal consumer of bio-fuels, except of course we call it Sustainable Aviation Fuel. That sounds so much nicer.
In the eyes of the perhaps unimprovably named trade association the European Waste-based and Bio-fuels Association – ewaba – insisting on aviation grade SAFs will cut their members out of the loop and leave us in the hands of the big players. As currently drafted, the EU mandate for aviation fuels allows for the use of animal fats and used cooking oils. That takes big refineries and market muscle. So we will be back to one of those things we know so well – an oligopoly. Total and Neste have been name-checked by ewaba. They want a level playing field – don’t we all – and they fear that the market will consolidate quickly, thus reducing the capacity to produce bio-fuels for cars.
“The ReFuelEU proposal might end up being a major policy failure. The approach to decarbonising road, maritime, and aviation should be holistic and based on the principle of technology neutrality,” ewaba said. Has any truer word be spoken that now, now, we need a roadmap.
I hope you are enjoying TWTWTW as much I enjoy writing them, but it is time for a summer break, so we will be back in September. Have a great summer.