A European Union (EU) decision is paving the way for more non-food crops, including Nuseed Carinata, to play a crucial role in the decarbonization of the aviation industry

For the first time, the EU has added to the list of feedstocks in Annex IX of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED)— including intermediate crops and cover crops, which will now benefit from additional incentives if used to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). 

  ″Annex IX lists a series of feedstocks that solve multiple policy targets under the Renewable Energy Directive to produce biofuels,″ says Daniel Lieberman, Nuseed’s Global Sustainability Strategy and Engagement Lead. 

Through sustainable crop farming, agriculture has an opportunity to solve the demand for bioenergy feedstocks. Crops become a lower-carbon solution for a hard-to-abate sector like aviation when added to jet fuel. 

 The EU has set ambitious carbon neutrality targets, particularly in the aviation sector. Fuel marketers and customers in the EU are legally bound to add SAF options to their existing fuel tanks to meet regulations aimed at curbing emissions. Fuel suppliers must incorporate 2% SAF by 2025, 6% by 2030, and 70% by 2050. And now, any crop that’s listed on Annex IX is recognized as ″renewable″ and will count towards the targets. 

  ″As EU member states are seeking to achieve their individual goals, in terms of achieving 40% to 45% of all total energy coming from renewables, more sustainable feedstocks are needed, and those in Annex IX will be at the center of this ambition,″ Lieberman says.  

 In addition to double counting all feedstocks included in Annex IX, the RED also incentivizes the use of biofuels in aviation with a specific 1.2x multiplier. 

  ″Essentially, it means that while any feedstock which is included on Annex IX is counted two times, it is counted 2.4 times in aviation. This will help EU member states towards the achievement of quantitative targets,″ Lieberman says. 

The role of bioenergy in meeting targets 

Biofuels have a crucial role in replacing fossil fuels, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors like aviation. Despite that difficulty, the aviation industry is working toward a goal of flying net zero by 2050. 

  While electric solutions for aviation are promising, they’re still new and likely won’t be available at a commercial scale for another decade. 

  Biofuels, however, are produced from sustainable feedstocks and closely mimic traditional jet fuel chemically. They can be blended with jet fuel and easily dropped into existing aircraft and aviation infrastructure. 

  With the RED Annex IX update, a cover crop like Nuseed Carinata — a non-food oilseed that produces oil used as low-carbon bioenergy feedstock — is now eligible to count toward European targets for the uptake of SAFs. 

  Nuseed Carinata doesn’t compete with food crops, as it’s grown between harvest and planting when soil is typically bare and exposed. It protects the land from erosion, carbon loss, and weed pressure and sequesters carbon. 

  ″The amended RED, and the success of crops like Carinata, will help allay concerns that there aren’t sufficient feedstocks to achieve the carbon abatement the EU and the aviation industry are striving for,″ Lieberman adds. 

  ″It encourages investment in production, and it encourages farmers’ adoption of cover crops and other improved agricultural practices,″ he says. ″It’s an influx of value to this system that will encourage growth in the sector to meet the overall targets.″ 

The amended directive represents an important recognition for Carinata and similar crops, as well as a chance to compete in the biofuels market. 

 However, a growing number of rules and other hurdles remain barriers to entering the SAF market. 

  ″There are other requirements that still present significant challenges,″ he says, pointing to new regulations in the EU that mandated using soil carbon measurements to demonstrate carbon accumulation in the soil, as opposed to a more traditional method like modelling. 

  ″While the intention of that change, presumably, is to ensure robust calculations and credibility, it has the unintended consequence of introducing an extremely complicated, costly and resource-intensive process that [could exclude] many potential participants. Nuseed is working to comply with these changes and deliver significant quantities of sustainable feedstock.″