British Columbia to require small percentage of renewables in jet fuel by 2028

Advanced Biofuels Canada acknowledged Dec. 11 a remarkable milestone in British Columbia’s record of what the organization called “clear and pragmatic action” to reduce transportation greenhouse-gas emissions.

The province will be the first jurisdiction in North America to require fuel suppliers to incorporate low-carbon jet fuel (LCJF) into fossil jet fuel, according to Advanced Biofuels Canada.  

British Columbia has also approved a revamped Low Carbon Fuel Regulation, designed to modernize the previous standard.

“When the province set a new 2030 transportation emissions-reduction target in December 2022 within its CleanBC strategy, it already had one of most stringent low-carbon fuel standards regulations in the world,” said Ian Thomson, president of Advanced Biofuels Canada. “BC required the use of low-carbon on-road transport fuels starting in 2013, but proven and fully functional low-carbon fuels compatible with the large turbines in commercial aircraft took years of development.”

Fast forward to today and hundreds of planes in the air today are using LCJF, and with availability at over 100 airports, Thomson noted.

“But for these alternatives to be manufactured at scale, fuel producers need assured markets, and that’s where BC’s leadership—again—is so critical,” he said. “After consulting widely, BC has set gradual, achievable and affordable targets. Aviation emissions are growing, and viable alternatives must perform as flawlessly as fossil jet fuels. Years of commercial use show that LCJF is not only as safe and operable as fossil jet, but also superior in several aspects.”

When asked about any impact on air travelers, Thomson offered, “Virtually none. While the regulation was approved today, its two components don’t come into effect until 2026 and 2028*, and only at the largest airports. We worked with global aviation experts to assess the cost of this policy, and calculated that by 2030, it will add 1.5 percent to the cost of a typical three-hour flight out of Vancouver International Airport—that’s about $3. Other experts concur. We believe that BC residents and visitors will embrace their role in protecting our natural wonders from the ravages of climate change.”

Advanced Biofuels Canada noted that BC’s LCJF policy has other benefits.

A number of companies are producing or planning to produce LCJF in BC, which will reduce fossil-jet import reliance and create new cleantech job opportunities in every region of the province.

Several projects will utilize forestry residues to produce LCJF, and leading experts on wildfire mitigation propose that using highly combustible forest-floor biomass to produce biofuel will not only lessen wildfire severity but also displace high-carbon fossil jet.

*Starting in 2026, jet fuel must meet a carbon-intensity reduction of 2 percent, moving to 10 percent by 2030. Starting in 2028, jet fuel must contain 1 percent renewable content, moving to 3 percent by 2030.