Why Allowing “e-HEFA” to Count Towards the ReFuelEU e-SAF Mandate Would Be a Strategic Mistake

This is a policy dispute in the European Union over jet fuel rules, and it does not involve home energy upgrades or rebates. It has no direct bearing on homeowners, but here is what it is about.

The EU's ReFuelEU rule requires airlines' fuel suppliers to start using a growing share of synthetic jet fuel, called e-SAF, made from green hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide, beginning in 2030. Most fuel suppliers have not built up their own production of this fuel or signed deals to buy it from other producers, which puts the EU's targets at risk and exposes suppliers to financial penalties for falling short.

Rather than investing to meet the requirement, some oil and gas companies want regulators to let them count a different product, called e-HEFA (a biofuel made partly with green hydrogen), toward the e-SAF quota. Critics argue this would let suppliers relabel existing biofuel as if it were the new synthetic fuel, undercutting projects that are trying to build real e-SAF production, rewarding companies for not investing sooner, and keeping aviation fuel tied to limited supplies of imported waste oils and fats rather than pushing toward genuinely new clean fuel technology. The critics are calling on EU regulators to close this loophole and stick with the original rules.

Because this concerns aviation fuel policy in Europe, it does not affect home heating, electricity, insulation, or any rebate programs available to homeowners.