Conference Sustainable Aviation Fuels, a short description.

A few words about the conference.

The Fit for 55 package of the European Union has accelerated several policy initiatives aiming to move Europe forward to the objective of climate neutrality. Among those, the RefuelEU aviation Initiative rests the obligation on the aviation fuel suppliers to ensure that all fuel made available to aircraft operators at EU airports contains a minimum share of SAF from 2025 and, from 2030, a minimum share of synthetic fuels, with both shares increasing progressively until 2050. The targets are very ambitious especially for 2030, which is just four years away. E-fuels (synthetic aviation fuels made from renewable electricity and captured carbon) are a critical sub-target within the EU’s ReFuelEU Aviation mandate. They are required to make up a growing percentage of all jet fuel at EU airports, starting at 1.2% in 2030 and scaling up to 35% by 2050.

To achieve the RefuelEU Aviation Initiative targets, the onus is placed on the industry and refineries to deliver significant volumes of advanced biofuels and synthetic fuels in an unprecedented pace. At the same time, the size of the required investments entailed in such accelerated deployment is unheard of, while international and national investors are wary due to the continuously amended and complex legislative European landscape.

The fuel supply instability caused by the war in the strait of Hormuz highlighted the importance of aviation in maintaining global services and indicated the strategic role of aviation within energy security. It is now recognized that aviation must be an independent sector with self-sufficient supply of fuels increasing the urgent importance of SAF availability.

To meet the targets, innovative value biomass supply chains and reliable sources of carbon dioxide emissions will have to be established to provide the resources needed giving confidence to potential investors. In addition, key biomass conversion SAF and eSAF technologies are still under innovative development. In sort, it is a complex airspace.

The Centre of Renewable Energy Sources and Saving is organizing this conference as a continuation of the Conference organised in November 2024 under the auspices and patronage of the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Greece aiming to inform the stakeholders on the necessary actions that must be undertaken to place the Greek aviation industry on an accelerated FlightPath to achieve the aims and objectives of the ReFuelEU Aviation Initiative for Greece with particular emphasis on eSAF.

International experts will be invited to address the conference framing the global and European policy and research environment related to SAF and eSAF while Greek experts from the academic, industrial and refinery sector will present the status of resources, technologies and markets for the EU and Greece.

The conference is addressed to decision makers and experts in the biomass, fuels, hydrogen and aviation industries with particular interest in SAF and eSAF production and deployment areas. Further information will follow soon.

President of the Conference:   

Mr Dimitris Kardomateas, President & General Director of CRES

Co-Chairs of the Conference: 

Mrs Myrsini Christou, Head of Biomass Department of CRES

Mr Kyriakos Maniatis, Former EC, DG ENER Principal   Administrator