Ní Mhurchú to meet EU Commission President today to discuss how Ireland can lead in the production of sustainable aviation fuel in Europe
Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú will meet with President Von Der Leyen this evening and will raise the prospect of Ireland becoming a hub for the development and approval of new sustainable fuels for aviation.
Ireland South MEP and member of the EU Transport Committee, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, will make the case for Ireland to become a global leader in the development and production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) when she meets Ursula Von Der Leyen in a one on one meeting in Strasbourg later today. Ní Mhurchú has described the production of sustainable aviation fuels as the new gold rush and she wants Ireland to be front and centre of it. Ní Mhurchú says that sustainable aviation fuel can be produced from waste products and that the EU is some ways behind the US in the drive to produce sustainable aviation fuels.
Ní Mhurchú described Ireland as a leading player in global aviation because we are home to most of the world’s largest aircraft leasing companies that, together, own almost 50% of the global fleet of aircraft. She pointed out that we are also home to Ryanair, one of the world’s largest airlines.
Because of this global credibility in aviation, the EU Commission through DG MOVE have funded a one stop shop in Dublin under the stewardship of Trinity academic Prof. Stephen Dooley with Ricardo and managed by European regulators EASA. That one stop shop called “The EU SAF Clearing House” is helping the producers of sustainable aviation fuels to develop safe and reliable sustainable fuels from waste products that will be reviewed by the airline industry and EASA, our European Aviation regulators, for approval.
According to Ní Mhurchú,
“Having this one stop shop, called The EU SAF Clearing House, based in Dublin is an enormous boost for Ireland. This Clearing House aims to remove as many barriers as possible to support the EU and International deployment of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF). It will support SAF producers with expert knowledge and testing capabilities. Aircraft Leasing Ireland, a subset of IBEC, is funding a new research study on SAF. The four-year research study is a collaboration between Trinity College Dublin and the University of Limerick. The research will identify what is needed to establish effective SAF supply chains and processes that could lead to more production here in Ireland. Sustainable fuels will play a crucial role in achieving the aviation industry’s goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050”
The EU SAF Clearing House and Aircraft leasing Ireland project follows other large scale SAF R&D projects in Ireland including the Trinity College Dublin Ryanair Sustainable Aviation Research Centre, and the Trinity College Dublin SAF Research Facility at SMBC Aviation Capital.
Ní Mhurchú believes this clustering is a unique opportunity to play a leading role on the development of new sustainable fuels. She feels that thousands of jobs could be created in rural parts of Ireland developing fuels that airlines desperately need to hit their climate change targets as set down by authorities,
“Sustainable aviation fuel will be the new gold rush as the European Commission has introduced legislation obliging fuel suppliers to hit new targets for the use of more sustainable fuel, commencing with a 2% target in 2025, 6% by 2030 and 70% by 2050. The current sustainable aviation fuel supply falls significantly short of the 2025 target, making the scale-up of SAF production critical but also presenting a unique opportunity for Ireland to become a global leader in the research and production of sustainable aviation fuel. ”
It is widely understood that the US are ten years ahead of us in Europe when it comes to the production of sustainable fuels and use tax incentives to encourage its production.
According to Ní Mhurchú,
“We need our airports to offer discounts to airlines who use more sustainable fuels. We need to introduce tax incentives for SAF use but we also need to ramp up research investment for existing operations in Dublin, including more funds for the one stop shop led by Prof. Stephen Dooley. I will be raising all of these issues with President Von Der Leyen.“
