Biofuels for Aviation: Feedstocks, Technology and Implementation

Biofuels for Aviation: Feedstocks, Technology and Implementation presents the issues surrounding the research and use of biofuels for aviation, such as policy, markets, certification and performance requirements, life cycle assessment, and the economic and technical barriers to their full implementation. Readers involved in bioenergy and aviation sectors—research, planning, or policy making activities—will benefit from this thorough overview.

The aviation industry’s commitment to reducing GHG emissions along with increasing oil prices have sparked the need for renewable and affordable energy sources tailored to this sector’s very specific needs. As jet engines cannot be readily electrified, turning to biofuels is the most viable option. However, aviation is a type of transportation for which traditional biofuels, such as bioethanol and biodiesel, do not fulfill key fuel requirements. Therefore, different solutions to this situation are being researched and tested around the globe, which makes navigating this scenario particularly challenging.

This book guides readers through this intricate subject, bringing them up to speed with its current status and future prospects both from the academic and the industry point of view. Science and technology chapters delve into the technical aspects of the currently tested and the most promising technology in development, as well as their respective feedstocks and the use of additives as a way of adapting them to meet certain specifications. Conversion processes such as hydrotreatment, synthetic biology, pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction and Fisher-Tropsch are explored and their results are assessed for current and future viability.

Presents the current status of biofuels for the aviation sector, including technologies that are currently in use and the most promising future technologies, their production processes and viabilityExplains the requirements for certification and performance of aviation fuels and how that can be achieved by biofuelsExplores the economic and policy issues, as well as life cycle assessment, a comparative techno-economic analysis of promising technologies and a roadmap to the futureExplores conversion processes such as hydrotreatment, synthetic biology, pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction and Fisher-Tropsch

Section I: An Overview of the Sector 1. The Prospects for Biofuels in Aviation 2. Feedstocks for Aviation Biofuels 3. Certification and Performance: What Is Needed from an Aviation Fuel?

Section II: The Science and Technology of Developing Biofuels for Aviation 4. The Suitability of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) as Blending Agents in Jet A-1 5. Aviation Biofuels Through Lipid Hydroprocessing 6. Low-Carbon Aviation Fuel Through the Alcohol to Jet Pathway 7. Metabolic Engineering Strategies to Convert Carbohydrates to Aviation Range Hydrocarbons 8. Pyrolysis of Biomass for Aviation Fuel 9. Towards an Aviation Fuel Through the Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Algae 10. Aviation Turbine Fuels Through the Fischer–Tropsch Process 11. Current and Potential Aviation Additives for Higher Biofuel Blends in Jet A-1

Section III: Testing, Assessment and the Future 12. Life Cycle Assessment of Biojet Fuels 13. Government Policy on Delivering Biofuels for the Aviation Sector 14. Sustainable Aviation: A UK Roadmap for Sustainable Aviation Fuels 15. Roadmap to a Sustainable Aviation Biofuel: A Brazilian Case Study

Appendix A. Standard and Alternative Fuel Specifications B. Commercial Biofuel Flight Demonstrations (Data Collected by Innovate Washington 2013)