As part of the Roissy-Meaux aeronautics park meetings, the panel on aviation discussed synthetic fuels. When it comes to SAF Europe is lagging behind.

While we wait for hydrogen-powered aircraft in Europe for 2035, the most immediate solution for decarbonising air transport is based on SAF (sustainable aviation fuels). Joel Navaron of TotalEnergies shed some light on this subject. He indicated that the most mature technology is based on the HEFA (Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids) process. Europe’s SAF requirements will be 4 to 5 million tonnes in 2025 and 25 million tonnes in 2030 (including 6 million tonnes for Europe and 500,000 tonnes for France).

Air France’s ambitions regarding SAF

At Air France, CEO Anne Rigail has indicated that SAF currently accounts for 1% of aircraft fuel consumption. This is the regulatory requirement. However, the national airline is very proactive on this issue, which it has been following since 2011. Air France’s ambition is to gradually increase this share to at least 10% on its flights by 2030. This is why it is securing its supplies with a view to this deadline. The head of Air France urged to look beyond our borders. And this applies just as much to projects to produce SAF from biomass in Germany as to the price of these fuels in North America.

According to Guillaume Faury, Chairman of Airbus, “we are not moving fast enough on SAF.” He alluded to the example of the United States, which “started later but stronger.” Once again, it seems that Europe is losing ground in an increasingly fast-moving world. And yet, “the aircraft we are producing could run at 50% on these fuels,” he concluded.

Do you want to learn more about SAF and Europe? Then our latest 2 articles on these subjects should interest you. You can read about SAF here and about Europe there. 

Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King