Japan to require overseas flights use 10% sustainable fuel

Nikkei Asia

TOKYO -- Japan is to make it mandatory that 10% of aviation fuel for international flights using Japanese airports be sustainable, Nikkei has learned.

A regulation that will hold oil wholesalers accountable for meeting the threshold is to take effect in 2030.

Compared to automobiles, it is more difficult to electrically power aircraft. Thus the use of what is called sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which is made from plants and waste oil, is expected to help reduce CO2 emissions.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) will soon present the proposal to a council whose members come from the public and private sectors. The council intends to tailor the regulation by amending an ordinance related to the Energy Supply Structure Upgrading Law.

The amendment is expected to be made by next March.

The regulation will mandate that 10% of aviation fuel for international flights sold by oil wholesalers be SAF.

METI also will consider penalties for wholesalers that do not meet the threshold.

In addition, Japanese airlines that fly internationally are to be required to state that 10% of the fuel they use for such flights will be SAF. The statements will be part of decarbonization business plans to be submitted to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The government plans that 10% of the aviation fuel used in Japan, or about 1.7 million kiloliters per year, will be SAF.

The burning of SAF is expected to reduce emissions by 70% to 90% compared to conventional jet fuel as the plants the new fuel comes from absorb CO2.

Up to now, most of the Japanese government's decarbonization policies have tried to encourage businesses by bestowing benefits like subsidies. This is the case in the government's electric vehicle policy.

But the new airline rule is more similar to the European approach to regulating sales of gasoline-powered vehicles. The government will consider applying similar approaches to other industries.

According to the International Energy Agency, the global aviation industry in 2021 emitted approximately 700 million tonnes of CO2, 2% of all CO2 emissions.

The International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations body, has set a zero emissions goal for international flights by 2050.

SAF alone is not enough for the industry to reach that goal. Even if the fuel were to be used for 100% of flights, the industry would still be emitting 10% to 30% of what it does today. Reaching the goal, then, will mean adopting electrification or coming up with a hydrogen-based fuel, experts say.