EU's ReFuelEU SAF Target Met in First Year

EASA confirms EU met its first-year sustainable aviation fuel mandate with 1.1 million tonnes supplied, though feedstock dependency risks persist.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) published its 2025 ReFuelEU Aviation Annual Technical Report on September 17, 2026. This report confirms the EU met and exceeded its mandatory 2% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) target for the first year of implementation, supplying 1.1 million tonnes of SAF at EU airports—representing 2.8% of aviation fuel used (up from 0.6% in 2024). Used cooking oil (UCO) drove 80% of this supply, with Category 3 animal fats at 11% and Palm-Oil Mill Effluent (POME) at 6%. Eighty-four percent of SAF was refined within the EU, while 85% of feedstocks were imported (up from 69% in 2024), primarily from China.

The mechanism enabling this scale involves leveraging existing waste streams as feedstocks and maintaining EU refining capacity. However, EASA identifies critical vulnerabilities: the supply chain remains heavily dependent on imported feedstocks and susceptible to fraud risks. While 60 e-SAF projects were in development across Europe at report time, none had reached a final investment decision.

This progress moves aviation emissions toward reduction and potentially lowers fuel costs for airlines by scaling domestic SAF production. Yet the dependency on imported feedstocks and ongoing fraud risks mean the system remains fragile. What matters next is whether the EU can secure stable, traceable feedstocks and move the 60 e-SAF projects beyond early-stage planning to avoid a supply chain collapse as aviation demand grows. The current data shows a working foundation—but not a fully resilient one for widespread adoption.

Source: CleanTechnica