UK launches low carbon fuel strategy consultation

The UK government has begun a consultation on the country's strategy for developing low carbon fuels (LCFs), which it said aims to address uncertainties and support investments.

The government said there is a changing role for LCFs, which are primarily used for road transport fuels and blended into retail gasoline and diesel. But as passenger cars and heavy goods vehicles transition to zero-emissions, demand for fossil road fuels will fall. Some heavier road vehicles will take longer to transition, but in the coming decades the main use of LCFs will be within aviation and maritime, and the UK government sees the decarbonisation of these sectors as key areas.

The parliamentary Committee for Climate Change (CCC) advice for the UK's sixth carbon budget is that biofuels should be phased out from use in cars and vans by 2040, to prioritise their use in other sectors. The government expects demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will increase, with production potentially meeting 4-8pc of global aviation fuel use by 2035.

As policy mechanisms are developed to support supply of SAF and other advanced fuels, the government will consider the types of feedstocks and production pathways that should be prioritised, and it expects reduced demand for renewable road fuels to increase the availability of feedstocks for producing SAF in the longer term.

To generate demand for SAF, the government has proposed a mandate, with only waste-derived biofuels, RFNBOs, SAF from nuclear origin and recycled carbon fuels expected to contribute. The government will publish a second consultation on a SAF mandate this year.

Domestic SAF production is limited in the UK, US refiner Phillips 66 started to produce co-processed biojet at its 230,000 b/d Humber refinery this year to supply British Airways (BA). BA is also partnering with SAF producer LanzaJet and Nova Pangaea technologies to conduct a feasibility project that could produce more than 100mn l/yr of SAF, and they have received a share of the government's £15mn Green Fuels, Green Skies funding for development of facilities to convert waste into SAF. [Biojet producer Velocys]( https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2249797) also received a share of the funding for its waste-to-ASF Altalto project. BA is partnering with Velocys on the Altalto project.

The UK government said the maritime sector is likely to require alternative low- and zero-emissions fuels like ammonia, methanol and hydrogen. Under high-decarbonisation scenarios, research estimates demand for these fuels will ramp up significantly in the 2030s and could form the bulk of energy supplied to vessels in the 2050s and beyond. But there is significant uncertainty about the proportions of different fuels that will be required, and fuel prices remain a significant barrier to commercialisation.

The government said which zero-emissions fuels are preferred for the maritime sector will be heavily dependent on decisions made by global shipping companies, which are testing a number of options. More research and demonstration projects are likely to required as this decade progesses.

The low carbon fuels strategy consultation will close on 3 April.

By Daniel Mackay and Giulia Squadrin