The European Parliament voted 388-248 to block a Commission proposal classifying soybean oil as a high indirect land-use change risk feedstock under the Renewable Energy Directive. The Commission's evidence cited global soybean expansion in Latin America, South-East Asia and West Africa; Donau Soja argued this failed to distinguish traceable, certified European-origin oil. The vote blocks this specific act but doesn't resolve the underlying methodology dispute.

The European Commission has approved a €103 million Dutch state aid scheme funding new vessels and retrofits powered by renewable methanol or hydrogen, targeting short-sea shipping in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub, with grants available 2027-2031. The scheme addresses capital cost, not the ongoing fuel premium: low-carbon methanol at roughly double conventional marine gasoil's price. It lands as EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime requirements tighten through 2031.

H4 Marseille Fos has secured 50% of the biogenic CO2 needed for its e-SAF facility through a partnership with the Rhône Décarbonation project, capturing CO2 from Vicat's cement plant and piping it to the Fos-sur-Mer site. Described as France's first structured CCU value chain, it follows a power agreement with EDF, including a first-of-its-kind nuclear allocation contract. The project targets 75,000 tonnes of e-SAF annually from 2032, with FID targeted for 2028.

Axens has launched the ERA project, France's first industrial-scale SAF production unit using bioethanol, targeting 50,000 tonnes annually by 2030 through Jetanol technology developed with IFPEN. CEO Quentin Debuisschert framed it as a sovereignty project as much as a climate one, building a domestic French value chain independent of imported feedstocks. The alcohol-to-jet pathway complements existing HEFA-based SAF by drawing on a different feedstock base.

Project CAPTURED, led by Singapore's Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation, has secured two regulatory milestones for onboard carbon capture: formal EU ETS recognition allowing captured CO2 to be deducted from a vessel's emissions allowance, and in-principle IMO support for carbon mineralisation as permanent CO2 storage. The pilot achieved a 7.9% net GHG reduction. Unlike fuel-switching approaches, this addresses emissions from vessels still running on conventional fuel.

Repsol, Toyota, BMW and Bosch have launched a six-month Spain pilot testing renewable gasoline in existing vehicles, tracked via Bosch's digital certification system. The companies are explicit the data is meant for EU policymakers, feeding into a live fight over the bloc's 2035 combustion engine rules, where the Commission has proposed softening the target with e-fuel and biofuel offsets.

ICAO has raised concern over the European Commission's 17 July proposal to expand EU ETS coverage to aviation flights departing the EEA from 2029, warning it risks duplicative carbon pricing alongside CORSIA, the global measure the EU helped negotiate in 2016. The Commission says a deduction mechanism avoids double pricing; ICAO reads the same proposal as introducing double-charging risk. The dispute has direct bearing on how EU SAF and fuel transition incentives get funded.

The UK Department for Transport has published its allocation strategy for the Revenue Certainty Mechanism, a contract-for-difference scheme to help advanced SAF producers reach final investment decision. The first round opens for applications in Q1 2027, targeting up to 230,000 tonnes of annual capacity, funded through a levy on aviation fuel suppliers. Support is narrowly targeted at mature, non-HEFA, first-of-a-kind projects.