Ireland’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Policy Roadmap

Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) are drop in fuels, which means they are blended with Conventional Aviation Fuel and are compatible with existing aircraft and infrastructure. SAFs are considered sustainable as they can have significantly lower lifecycle CO2 emissions.

Various pathways for producing SAFs are currently being explored and developed, most notably bio-based fuels (i.e. SAF produced from biological origins, such as plants, animal wastes, or other wastes and residues), or the emerging eSAF process (rather than a biological origin, this SAF is engineered using captured carbon and green hydrogen).

The aviation sector faces a particular challenge to decarbonise as there are no immediate alternative means of propulsion available at commercial scale. In the short to medium term, the development and deployment of SAFs will be pivotal.

In recognition of the important contribution that SAFs can make toward decarbonising the aviation industry, Ireland’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Policy Roadmap, the first SAF Roadmap of its kind for Ireland, identifies opportunities and barriers for Ireland in relation to aviation fuel suppliers importing SAF, and exploring future potential production opportunities, taking existing national and EU policies into consideration.

The Roadmap sets out four SAF Policy Pathways to advance:

1. Market certainty;
2. Collaboration;
3. Supporting uptake; and
4. Supporting production.

For each pathway, the Roadmap sets out a direction of travel and a number of actions to progress, that build upon a suite of EU initiatives. These actions are initial steps and will be built upon in future iterations of the Roadmap.

The Roadmap is an important first step in developing national SAF policy, identifying a number of actions in the immediate term and setting a path for future SAF policy development. In the longer term, the SAF Policy Roadmap will be an evolving document to reflect evolving circumstances nationally and internationally. The Department of Transport will continue to review these policy pathways and engage with national and international stakeholders as we look to further progress our national SAF policy.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel Task Force

To assist in the development of the SAF Policy Roadmap, the Department of Transport established the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Task Force in December of 2023. This Task Force brings together stakeholders with responsibility for, and interest in, policy development and implementation in relation to SAF.

Membership of the Task Force includes Government Departments and Agencies, airlines, airports, academia and representative bodies.

The Secretariat to the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Task Force, can be contacted, via emailing DoTSAFTaskForce@transport.gov.ie or writing to:

Department of Transport

Sustainable Aviation Policy Division

Leeson Lane, Dublin, D02 TR60