Facilitating a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Transition in Italy

Riccardo Erriu, Edoardo Marcucci () and Valerio Gatta
Additional contact information
Riccardo Erriu: Transport Research Lab, Department of Political Science, Roma Tre University, 00145 Rome, Italy
Edoardo Marcucci: Transport Research Lab, Department of Political Science, Roma Tre University, 00145 Rome, Italy
Valerio Gatta: Transport Research Lab, Department of Political Science, Roma Tre University, 00145 Rome, Italy

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-19

Abstract: Civil aviation significantly contributes to “hard-to-abate” emissions, responsible for 2% of global CO 2 emissions. This paper examines the most effective policies to promote Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) in Italy, using a multi-level policy analysis and a stakeholder-based case study approach. The policies reviewed comprise the international, European, and national level. The paper analyses at the international level, ICAO CORSIA and, at the European level, the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), ReFuel EU, and the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for aviation. Italy has not yet implemented specific policies targeting SAF transition, which is challenging due to commercialization issues and policy inconsistencies. These include the price gap between SAF and conventional fuels, different definitions adopted, and environmental objectives pursued with respect to sustainable fuels by ICAO and the EU. Other challenges include double-counting risks and fuel tankering practices. This article contributes to Italy’s SAF policymaking by developing a stakeholder-based quantitative survey, whose results suggest that three measures are key: tax subsidies for technology and infrastructure users, tax credits for upgrading production infrastructure, and tax breaks for SAF-using companies, fuel handlers, and distributors.

Keywords: SAF; sustainability; emissions; stakeholder engagement; multi-level analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/14/3388/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/14/3388/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:14:p:3388-:d:1432529

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().