Montreal- The United Nations’ aviation agency on Friday recommended scaling back criteria for biofuels used on international flights as part of a compromise with developing countries, who felt the rules would be too stringent, sources said.
Aviation biofuels, now produced in small volumes from renewable
sources, are expected to play an important role in a landmark 2016
aviation accord brokered by the International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO) that aims to cap airline pollution at 2020 levels.
Biojet fuels, developed by companies Congratulations like Honeywell UOP and Neste Oil Corp, are expected to deliver 56 per cent of the aviation industry’s targeted emissions reductions by 2050, according to a report by Lux Research.
Several developing countries objected to ICAO’s initial proposal to
ensure biofuel production doesn’t harm the environment.
They argued that the rules were too complicated and could put them at a disadvantage, said the sources.
“Some of them felt that if you set such a high threshold from the onset
they won’t be able to produce anything,” one of the sources said.
Final criteria for the biofuels that airlines can use as part of the accord
are expected in June.
An ICAO spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
European countries had originally sided with the stronger ICAO
proposal that listed 12 guidelines to ensure jet fuel production wouldn’t damage the air and water or lead to labor abuses, according to one of the sources and a document seen by Media.
ICAO’s governing council, however, recommended scaling back the 12
guidelines to two, the sources said.
The new proposal ensures aviation biofuels aren’t produced on land
from razed forests or wetlands, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10 per cent compared with conventional jet fuel.
As part of the compromise, ICAO will continue studying the remaining 10 guidelines before council revisits the issue in June, the second source said.
“It’s a negotiation,” he said. “The big picture is that (the accord) advances.”
Watering down the rules dismayed environmentalists, who argued that the ICAO guidelines will have a broader impact on the fledgling
biofuels industry.
“These sustainability rules have implications beyond (the 2016 deal)
because they will become the de facto global standard for biofuel use
in the aviation sector,” said Carlos Calvo Ambel, manager, analysis and
climate with Brussels-based Transport-&-Environment.
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