Airlines including Jet2 and EasyJet are lobbying the Government to allow them to use plants to make “green” jet fuel, but environmental groups warn such a move could drive up food prices and ruin the environment.
The UK Government is considering whether crops should be used to create sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which airlines are now required by law to use to lower emissions from their flights.
A call to evidence was opened in December following lobbying from airlines and the fuel industry. The i Paper has seen examples of letters and reports sent from airlines and fuel companies to the Government arguing such a change would help them decarbonise while keeping prices low.
However, green groups argue such a move would take land out of food production and drive up food prices “posing clear risks for a just transition for both society and nature”.
Can jet fuel be ‘sustainable’?
Since January, airlines operating in the UK have been required to use SAF, a non-petroleum-based fuel that uses less CO₂ over its lifespan.
This is because the raw materials used to create the fuel are made from sustainable sources, such as used cooking oils, animal fats or agricultural waste.
Currently airlines in the UK are required to ensure at least 2 per cent of their fuel mix includes SAF, but this amount will increase annually to reach 22 per cent by 2040.
While it is possible to make SAF out of crops, there are longstanding concerns that allowing such a move could divert land from food production and drive up prices.
For this reason UK Government rules, published by the previous Conservative Government in 2024, mandate that airlines can use SAF derived only from waste materials.
Currently airlines in the UK are required to ensure at least 2 per cent of their fuel mix includes sustainable aviation fuel (Photo: Chalabala/ Getty Images/ iStockphoto)Lobbying for plant-fuelled planes
However, in December Labour signalled a potential shift in Government policy by publishing a call to evidence on the potential impact of using crops for SAF.
The call to evidence was published after a change in policy in the European Union to allow some types of crops to be used to make SAF, as well as significant lobbying from airlines to introduce such a change in the UK.
This includes a report funded by airlines including EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic that identified “key risks” with the UK’s waste-based approach.
The report said airlines were becoming increasingly reliant on used cooking oil imported from countries including China, leading to a spike in prices and a shortfall in availability.
It argued that airlines should be allowed to use SAF made from cover crops (which are planted between main food crops), crops grown on “degraded” land and crops that are “globally abundant”, such as milling wheat and corn.
The i Paper has also seen a series of letters exchanged between the budget airline Jet2 and officials within the Department for Transport last summer in which Jet2 aired their “frustration” with the UK’s current policy.
The airline said it was “perplexed” that the UK did not allow the use of cover crops in SAF and called for the changes to be introduced without a call for evidence.
In a separate letter sent in July by a group of airlines including Virgin Atlantic, the industry called on the Government to explore how farmers could be offered incentives to grow cover crops to be used for SAF.
Move could push up the price of food staples
However, environmental groups argue that using crops for SAF is unsustainable as doing so could drive up food prices and deforestation, while providing “doubtful” levels of carbon savings.
In a recent letter to the Government, groups including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the think-tank Transport & Environment argued that “the core issue with crop-based fuels is land demand”.
“Using primary crops for aviation fuel directly links aviation decarbonisation to agricultural land, a finite and increasingly constrained resource.
Deforestation of a new planting area for palm oil plantations in Lamno, Indonesia in January. Investigations have discovered virgin palm oil in SAF supply chains (Photo: Chaideer Mahyuddin/ AFP via Getty Images)“A clear principle of ‘no primary crops for fuel’ is therefore essential: when crops are not diverted into fuel markets, land can instead support food production, nature restoration or carbon sequestration,” the letter read.
Anna Krajinska, Director of Transport & Environment UK, said airlines were lobbying for the change because it would be “a much cheaper compliance option for them”.
However, she said using crops like wheat to create green fuel would “push up the price of staples” like bread and pasta.
Meanwhile, energy crops have also been linked to biodiversity loss in the UK and deforestation in other countries.
The EU has changed its rules to allow certain cover crops to be used in SAF. However Krajinska said she was “sceptical” of this solution because it would be hard to regulate.
Significant levels of fraud have been identified within SAF supply chains, with previous investigations revealing that virgin palm oil – which has been linked to rising tropical deforestation – has been labelled as used cooking oil.
Krajinska said allowing cover crops in SAF “really risks those fraud issues again, which was one of the reasons that crop-based fuels were originally kept out of the SAF mandate”.
Some airlines have also previously made this argument, such as EasyJet, which signed a letter in 2022 urging the EU to reject the use of imported cover crops in SAF.
“Allowing these crops in a context of global food insecurity would be irresponsible,” the letter read.
The UK Government’s call for evidence closed this month and ministers are now considering the responses.
A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “We’re listening to industry and exploring the benefits, risks and trade-offs of permitting crops to be used in the SAF Mandate.”
A spokesperson for Airlines UK, which represents the industry, said: “All UK‑eligible sustainable aviation fuel feedstocks must meet robust sustainability standards. That includes any derived from crops, which are already permitted under strict controls in the UK road fuels market.”
A spokesperson for Jet2 said: “We believe [cover crops] could be appropriate in delivering much-needed SAF, provided that they do not compete with food production, are grown between main crop cycles, and are certified to ensure they do not cause land-use changes. We look forward to continued engagement with the Department as this policy area develops.”
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