Amex GBT has called on the UK Government to incentivise the development of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) plants.
Nicole Sautter, Senior Manager of Global Sustainability at Amex GBT, presented its policy ahead of the one-year anniversary of the UK government’s Jet Zero strategy.
The TMC reported that current SAF plants would barely deliver enough UK-manufactured SAF to fulfil even half of the 2030 mandate.
To combat this, Amex GBT is urging the Government to adopt a recommendation in the Philip New report of an ‘ice breaker’ policy to directly support the development of one or two plants.
Innovative policymaking, it found, can help achieve this. For example, the Government is currently exploring the possibility of introducing a fast-track system to consent certain nationally significant infrastructure projects. If this progresses, it could explore admission of SAF plants into this fast-track system.
Sustainable Aviation, a long-term strategy to ensure a ‘cleaner, quieter and smarter future’ in UK aviation, discovered that a well-established SAF industry in the UK could support 60,000 jobs and £10bn in GVA by 2050. This policy intervention could help prevent missing this immense opportunity.
Amex GBT has been working with Shell Aviation to drive demand of SAF, launching a landmark SAF programme for business travel with one million gallons of SAF available from the outset for corporate customers.
Companies that have already signed up to the Amex GBT SAF programme include Bank of America, Aon, Shell and Accenture. Participating airlines are JAL, JetBlue, Delta, Cathay Pacific.
The UK now needs to drive supply by accelerating the construction of new SAF plants and ensuring a domestic supply chain, Amex GBT reported.
