The report analyzes the obstacles and challenges that are currently slowing down the market ramp-up of SAF in the aviation sector in Germany. These obstacles were identified in two stakeholder workshops in September 2023 and February 2024 and supplemented by literature research and expert interviews. The aim is to focus on the highest-priority obstacles when developing solutions in order to effectively drive forward the market ramp-up of SAF. You can find the report here.

This review examines the regulations, laws and industry standards that define the framework conditions for the market ramp-up of SAF. International, EU-wide and national regulations and plans are analyzed and the responsible institutions are presented and classified. The publication was produced by the Aviation focus area, which includes the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Competence Center for Climate and Noise Protection in Aviation, CENA Hessen and the airline Condor. The report is available at this link.

From the perspective of the individual groups, the following solutions should be pursued most urgently in order to overcome existing ramp-up obstacles such as low production capacities, a lack of investment and a lack of planning security:

• an official guide for committed companies and potential investors
• Mobilization of research to accelerate technology upscaling and approval processes
• Development of a financing system that also secures refinancing
• Incentives for the use of SAF
• A distance-based, earmarked levy to finance long-term public tenders
• Grandfathering measures for initial installations over a longer period of time ("grandfathering")
• Homogenization of sustainability, CO₂ and electricity procurement criteria

Our workshop clearly showed that investment security and reliable long-term regulatory requirements are crucial to the successful ramp-up of SAF.