How much SAF does the EU require?

Under ReFuelEU Aviation: 2% from 2025, 6% from 2030, 20% from 2035, 34% from 2040, 42% from 2045 and 70% from 2050, with a rising share of synthetic fuel inside each figure.

Can planes fly on 100% SAF?

Not under today's approvals for blending: DOE says SAF is blended with fossil jet fuel within limits between 10% and 50%, depending on the production pathway approved under ASTM D7566.

Who pays for sustainable aviation fuel?

Fuel suppliers carry the EU and UK obligations; in the UK they receive certificates for the SAF they supply. A shipper that wants to fund more than the mandate can buy SAF through a book-and-claim scheme and claim the reduction.

Term

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is jet fuel made from biofuels, synthetic fuels or recycled carbon rather than crude oil, blended into fossil jet fuel within limits of 10% to 50% depending on how it is made. The EU requires fuel suppliers at its airports to supply 2% SAF from 2025, rising to 70% by 2050.

Also called SAF, SAF mandate, ReFuelEU Aviation, HEFA, synthetic aviation fuel, e-SAFUpdated 13 October 2026

The EU mandate

From 1 January	Minimum SAF share	Of which synthetic fuel
2025	2%	—
2030	6%	1.2% average over 2030–31, at least 0.7% each year
2035	20%	5%
2040	34%	10%
2045	42%	15%
2050	70%	35%

ReFuelEU Aviation, Regulation (EU) 2023/2405, Annex I

The UK mandate is a legal obligation on fuel suppliers: 2% of fossil jet fuel supplied in 2025, about 230,000 tonnes of SAF, rising each year to 10% in 2030 and 22% in 2040, with a power-to-liquid obligation from 0.2% in 2028 to 3.5% in 2040. UK SAF must cut emissions by at least 40% against a fossil comparator of 89 g CO2e per MJ. The US set a goal of 3 billion gallons in 2030 and 35 billion in 2050, with at least a 50% cut in lifecycle emissions; DOE now calls the effort the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Initiative.

Worked example: an air freight shipment

100 t × 5,000 km on a long-haul freighter = 500,000 t-km × 608 g CO2e = 304 t CO2e · HEFA SAF at 29.7 g/MJ against jet fuel at 89.0 g/MJ is 67% lower · at a 2% blend → about 4.1 t saved; at 6% → 12.2 t; at 70% → 142 t

Intensity and fuel values from the GLEC Framework v3.2, well-to-wheel; the shipment is illustrative and assumes SAF replaces jet fuel energy for energy.

Who pays, and who claims

In the EU the obligation sits with fuel suppliers, and airlines must take on at least 90% of the yearly aviation fuel they need at each EU airport. A supplier may meet its share as a weighted average over all the aviation fuel it supplies across Union airports, so the mandate is not a rule for any single flight. In the UK, suppliers receive certificates for the SAF they supply.

The mistake people make

Expecting a default emission factor to show the SAF a carrier bought. The GLEC Framework's air defaults leave SAF out to avoid even the marginal risk of double counting, so a SAF purchase reaches a shipper's figures only through a documented claim — usually book and claim — not through a lower default.

FAQ