Secretary of State for Transport (): Sustainable aviation
fuel (SAF) is
integral to reaching net zero aviation by 2050. It reduces
greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions by around 70% on average over the lifecycle of its
production and use when replacing fossil kerosene. It is also an
enabler of growth, and can provide good, skilled jobs across the
UK.
That is why this government has taken rapid action to support
SAF. Just weeks
into office, we reiterated our commitment to the SAF Mandate. In November
(2024), we signed it into law, and it has been in place since
January (2025).
The SAF Mandate is
the UK's key policy mechanism to secure demand for SAF. It delivers GHG emission savings by encouraging the
use of SAF within
the aviation industry. It does this by setting a legal obligation
on fuel suppliers in the UK to supply an increasing proportion of
SAF over time.
Suppliers receive certificates for the SAF they supply. Certificates
are issued in proportion to the level of GHG emission reductions that the fuel
delivers. That is, the greater the savings, the greater number of
certificates they receive. The SAF Mandate started at 2% of
total UK jet fuel demand in 2025 and increases linearly to 10% in
2030 and then to 22% in 2040. It could deliver up to 6.3 million
tonnes of carbon savings per year by 2040.
We are also committed to developing the UK SAF industry to secure a UK
supply of SAF,
attract investment and create good green jobs across the UK.
In January, we announced an additional £63 million of
funding for the Advanced Fuels Fund, our grant funding
programme for UK SAF production, extending the
programme for another year.
We are also introducing a revenue certainty
mechanism to help attract investment into UK SAF production. Under the
SAF revenue
certainty mechanism, SAF producers will enter into
a private law contract with a government-backed counterparty.
These contracts will set a strike price for SAF: if producers sell their
SAF for below the
strike price, the counterparty makes payments of the difference;
if the SAF is sold
for above the strike price, the producer makes payments of the
difference to the counterparty. This addresses the most
significant constraint on investment in SAF production and sends a
clear signal to investors: that this is a serious UK investment
opportunity.
This government has made significant progress towards delivering
the revenue certainty mechanism. We announced that we will be
introducing a revenue certainty mechanism bill in the first
session of this Parliament in the King's Speech and will have the
legislation in place by the end of 2026 at the very latest.
In 2050, up to 15,000 jobs and £5 billion gross value added
(GVA) in the UK could be
supported with future low carbon fuel production for the domestic
and international markets. The revenue certainty mechanism, along
with the government's modern industrial strategy, will provide a
launchpad for this sector to drive growth and investment.
