European Shipowners (ECSA), Airlines for Europe (A4E), and Transport & Environment (T&E) have issued a joint statement calling on the Commission and the EU member states to ramp up the production of clean shipping and aviation fuels in Europe.
T&E and the two industry associations highlight that meeting the targets of the European Green Deal and ensuring that these industries remain competitive requires immense investments. These investments should aim to produce clean shipping and aviation fuels to decarbonise these difficult-to-decarbonise transport sectors. According to the Draghi report, around 100 billion EUR in investment is needed annually for European shipping and aviation alone for the energy transition.
The joint statement urges for immediate action and proposes that the upcoming Clean Industrial Deal prioritises scalable renewable fuels for shipping and aviation. The Sustainable Transport Investment Plan (STIP) should ramp up the production in the EU of at least 40% of the fuels needed under FuelEU Maritime and ReFuelEU Aviation.
The three organisations also support the use of European and national ETS revenues to de-risk projects and the development of a matchmaking platform to facilitate access to clean shipping and aviation fuels. European Shipowners, A4E and T&E support infrastructure mandates to foster the development of ports and airports as renewable fuel hubs.
William Todts, the Executive Director of T&E, stated that Europe urgently needs an industrial strategy to scale e-fuels for shipping and aviation. He mentioned that Europe has the financial resources, expertise, and green goals, but what it lacks are innovative financial instruments to kickstart the manufacturing and adoption of hydrogen-based fuels.
We need enormous investments for clean fuels, certainty through robust binding requirements, and simplification of access to public and private financing. This is vital to keep European shipping internationally competitive while ensuring a thriving, innovative industrial cluster
… said Sotiris Raptis, Secretary General, ECSA.
Meanwhile, Ourania Georgoutsakou, the Managing Director of A4E, conveyed that airlines and shipowners are united in delivering a straightforward message: affordable, scalable renewable fuels and innovative technologies are urgently needed to help decarbonize their industries.
