Sustainable Aviation Fuels: Production, Use and Impact on Decarbonization

Mussatto, Solange I.; Motta, Ingrid Lopes; Filho, Rubens Maciel; Wielen, Luuk van der; Capaz, Rafael Silva; Seabra, Joaquim E. A.; Osseweijer, Patrícia; Posada, John A.; Gonçalves, Marcelo de Freitas; Scorza, Pedro Rodrigo; Dragone, Giuliano

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-819727-1.00057-1

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Life cycle assessment was conducted according to the ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006 standards, which define the basic structure and methodological procedures. 23 As LCA methodology is comprehensively described in the literature and widely applied to different products and processes, [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] no detailed description of LCA methodology is given here. The following sections describe the goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory compilation, and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) of the bio-based IBN production system under study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative life cycle assessment of first‐ and second‐generation bio‐isobutene as a drop‐in substitute for fossil isobutene

Fazeni-Fraisl

Lindorfer

2022

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

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Isobutene (IBN, C4H8) is widely used in industry. Currently, IBN production relies on petrochemical processes. The current work assesses the comparative environmental sustainability of bio‐based IBN production routes based on first‐ and second‐generation sugar compared with fossil IBN by applying the ISO 14044‐based Life Cycle Assessment methodology. In total nine scenarios are examined. Scenarios 1–6 used first‐generation sugar for IBN fermentation and scenarios 7–9 use cereal straw‐based second‐generation sugar. The scenarios also differ in their process energy source. The savings in Global Warming Potential for first‐generation IBN are up to 68% (scenario 1); for second‐generation IBN, the savings reach 105% if an avoided burden approach for utilizing lignin as an energy source is applied (scenario 8). It is found that applying renewable process energy is a prerequisite to maximizing greenhouse gas savings. Special attention has to be drawn to the eutrophication potential, were none of the scenarios show savings. This is driven by sugar crop cultivation owing to fertilizer usage, thermal energy from solid biomass or natural gas due to NOx emissions and nutrient use for fermentation (e.g. ammonia). Scenarios 4, 7 and 8 show savings in the acidification potential compared with fossil IBN. A driver of acidification is biomass‐based process energy generation, mainly due to SO2 and NOx emissions from biomass combustion. In contrast, all scenarios show a better environmental performance concerning the freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity potential, the abiotic depletion and the photochemical ozone creation potential. Process development should focus on conversion efficiencies and a fully renewable process energy supply. © 2022 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining published by Society of Industrial Chemistry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative life cycle assessment of first‐ and second‐generation bio‐isobutene as a drop‐in substitute for fossil isobutene

Fazeni-Fraisl

Lindorfer

2022

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

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“…Limiting global warming as a result of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to well below two degrees requires a massive reduction of those emissions in all economic sectors . Today, aviation is responsible for over 2% of global CO 2 emissions, and it is expected that air traffic will substantially increase in the future. , Overall GHG emissions of aviation are dominated by CO 2 from the combustion of petroleum-based kerosene , with 3.16 kg of CO 2 emitted per kg of jet fuel burned . Developing and using low-carbon alternatives to conventional fossil kerosene-powered aircraft is therefore urgently needed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To maintain the today’s aircraft infrastructure, alternative low-carbon jet fuels should retain similar or identical properties as the petroleum-based fuel . Such alternative synthetic jet fuel can be produced by using biogenic sources of CO 2 , namely, biomass ,− or CO 2 captured from the atmosphere, which allow for a closed carbon cycle and thus in theory zero CO 2 emissions. However, the production of such synthetic jet fuels requires feedstock, material, energy, and their supply is associated with GHG emissions and other environmental burdens.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Synthetic jet fuel-related LCA studies have typically focused on GHG emissions and land use, and results mostly depend on the production pathway utilized and the used feedstocks. , The studies that evaluate synthetic jet fuels mainly consider two feedstocks: biomass derivatives ,,,− and pure CO 2 . ,− Current LCA literature basically agrees that biomass-based synthetic jet fuels most often cause significantly lower life cycle GHG emissions than petroleum-based fuel, as long as biomass use does not result in substantial land use-related GHG emissions. ,,− …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Life Cycle Economic and Environmental Assessment of Producing Synthetic Jet Fuel Using CO₂/Biomass Feedstocks

Saad,

Terlouw,

Sacchi

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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The aviation industry is responsible for over 2% of global CO 2 emissions. Synthetic jet fuels generated from biogenic feedstocks could help reduce life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to petroleum-based fuels. This study assesses three processes for producing synthetic jet fuel via the synthesis of methanol using water and atmospheric CO 2 or biomass. A life cycle assessment and cost analysis are conducted to determine GHG emissions, energy demand, land occupation, water depletion, and the cost of producing synthetic jet fuel in Switzerland. The results reveal that the pathway that directly hydrogenates CO 2 to methanol exhibits the largest reductions in terms of GHG emission (almost 50%) compared to conventional jet fuel and the lowest production cost (7.86 EUR kg JF −1 ); however, its production cost is currently around 7 times higher than the petroleum-based counterpart. Electrical energy was found to be crucial in capturing CO 2 and converting water into hydrogen, with the sourcing and processing of the feedstocks contributing to 79% of the electric energy demand. Furthermore, significant variations in synthetic jet fuel cost and GHG emissions were shown when the electricity source varies, such as utilizing grid electricity pertaining to different countries with distinct electricity mixes. Thus, upscaling synthetic jet fuels requires energy-efficient supply chains, sufficient feedstock, large amounts of additional (very) low-carbon energy capacity, suitable climate policy, and comprehensive environmental analyses.

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“…Results show that 1G pathways significantly reduce GHG compared to fossil kerosene from 55% (soybean/HEFA) to 65% (sugarcane/ATJ). Mussatto et al [11] summarize and discuss different SAF technologies, their potential to be upscaled, and their techno-economic perspectives, as well as the comprehensive impact of SAF on sustainability from an industry point of view, focusing on the production and use of aviation biofuels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exergy-Based Improvements of Sustainable Aviation Fuels: Comparing Biorefinery Pathways

Silva Ortiz,

de Oliveira,

Mariano

et al. 2024

Processes

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The aeronautical sector faces challenges in meeting its net-zero ambition by 2050. To achieve this target, much effort has been devoted to exploring sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). Accordingly, we evaluated the technical performance of potential SAF production in an integrated first- and second-generation sugarcane biorefinery focusing on Brazil. The CO2 equivalent and the renewability exergy indexes were used to assess environmental performance and impact throughout the supply chain. In addition, exergy efficiency (ηB) and average unitary exergy costs (AUEC) were used as complementary metrics to carry out a multi-criteria approach to determine the overall performance of the biorefinery pathways. The production capacity assumed for this analysis covers 10% of the fuel demand in 2020 at the international Brazilian airports of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, leading to a base capacity of 210 kt jet fuel/y. The process design includes sugarcane bagasse and straw as the feedstock of the biochemical processes, including diverse pre-treatment methods to convert lignocellulosic resources to biojet fuel, and lignin upgrade alternatives (cogeneration, fast pyrolysis, and gasification Fischer-Tropsch). The environmental analysis for all scenarios shows a GHG reduction potential due to a decrease of up to 30% in the CO2 equivalent exergy base emissions compared to fossil-based jet fuel.

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Sustainable Aviation Fuels: Production, Use and Impact on Decarbonization

Cited by 10 publications

References 58 publications

Comparative life cycle assessment of first‐ and second‐generation bio‐isobutene as a drop‐in substitute for fossil isobutene

Comparative life cycle assessment of first‐ and second‐generation bio‐isobutene as a drop‐in substitute for fossil isobutene

Life Cycle Economic and Environmental Assessment of Producing Synthetic Jet Fuel Using CO₂/Biomass Feedstocks

Exergy-Based Improvements of Sustainable Aviation Fuels: Comparing Biorefinery Pathways

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Sustainable Aviation Fuels: Production, Use and Impact on Decarbonization

Cited by 10 publications

References 58 publications

Comparative life cycle assessment of first‐ and second‐generation bio‐isobutene as a drop‐in substitute for fossil isobutene

Comparative life cycle assessment of first‐ and second‐generation bio‐isobutene as a drop‐in substitute for fossil isobutene

Life Cycle Economic and Environmental Assessment of Producing Synthetic Jet Fuel Using CO2/Biomass Feedstocks

Exergy-Based Improvements of Sustainable Aviation Fuels: Comparing Biorefinery Pathways

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Product

Resources

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Life Cycle Economic and Environmental Assessment of Producing Synthetic Jet Fuel Using CO₂/Biomass Feedstocks