14th Innovation Forum dedicated to sustainable aviation fuels

Accelerating France’s sustainable aviation fuel sector: what action levers are available?

On 8 October, IFP Energies nouvelles brought together more than 300 participants for its 14th Innovation Forum, dedicated to sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), one of the main pillars of the decarbonisation of the aviation sector.

The round table, introduced by Cécile Barrère-Tricca and moderated by Mickaële Le Ravalec, covered all the stages of the SAF value chain, thanks to contributions from Jean-Philippe Héraud (Head of the Sustainable Fuels Programme, IFPEN), Ugo Batel (Director of the Agricultural Division, Groupe Oxyane), Pierre Albano (Director within Public Affairs, Air France KLM), Yvon Bernard (ERA Project Director, Axens), and Stéphane Demilly (Senator for the Somme).

The richness of the discussions confirmed that SAFs are an essential lever for decarbonising air transport. While several technologies are already available—HEFA, Biomass-to-Liquids, Ethanol-to-Jet and e-SAF—the main challenge now lies in scaling them up industrially in order to meet European targets.

The discussions highlighted the need to secure access to sustainable resources—including agricultural and forestry biomass, advanced ethanol, biogenic CO₂ and low-carbon electricity—while controlling their impacts on soil, water and the carbon balance. The success of the sector will also depend on long-term offtake agreements, appropriate support mechanisms and financing to reduce the risks associated with the first industrial-scale plants.

Finally, the discussions highlighted France’s strengths in research, technology, agricultural resources and low-carbon electricity. Building a sovereign, competitive, traceable French and European sector that is accepted by local communities will require close cooperation among public authorities, researchers, industry, farmers, airlines and investors.

By designing competitive and sustainable value chains for the production of e-biofuels for the aviation sector, the PEPR EBIOCARB is fully supporting this ambition.

🔁To watch or rewatch this round table, view the replay!