Alternative Jet Fuels Tackle Rising Aviation Emissions

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September 19, 2016

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by Rebecca Chillrud (Environmental and Energy Study Institute) ... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently issued an endangerment finding for aircraft, indicating that greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft are hazardous to public health. This finding requires the EPA to begin crafting regulations for aircraft emissions. At the global level, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will be making decisions to finalize a market-based measure, designed to help stabilize future emissions at projected 2020 levels, at their meeting beginning September 27 in Montreal. Biofuels will be able to play a large part in meeting these standards and reducing overall aviation emissions.

The Importance of Biofuels for Aircraft

Projections suggest that improvements in aircraft efficiency will only go so far in decreasing emissions. Much of the required emissions reductions will have to be met by improving the fuel itself. Aircraft are difficult to decarbonize, since they require energy-dense fuels. While strides in electric and hybrid jets have made progress, it’s assumed that liquid fuels will be required for aircraft for the foreseeable future. As airlines look to decarbonize their fuel sources, biofuels are the natural choice.

Various feedstocks can be used to make sustainable bio-based jet fuel, including crop residues, cereal and sugar crops, oils and fats, algae, and cellulosic plant matter. ICAO estimates that replacing traditional kerosene jet fuel with jet fuel produced from an energy crop like miscanthus can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 90 percent, assuming no land use change. Land use change could have a positive or negative effect—converting annual crop land to perennials could increase soil carbon storage, while replacing forested land with annual crops would decrease soil carbon. The global trade group International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said that the use of biofuels in aircraft, compared to traditional jet fuel, could reduce CO2 lifecycle emissions by up to 80 percent.

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Dennis McGinn, assistant secretary for energy, installations and environment (Navy), said of the improvements, “This will be part of the new normal. We’ll be putting biofuel blends into our ships in the form of marine diesel. We’ll be putting it into our helicopters and our jet aircraft.”

Additionally, nonprofit Advanced Biofuels USA received a grant of nearly $17,000 from USDA to study the feasibility of creating sustainable jet fuel from energy beets. The group will also analyze the possibility of using the phosphate uptake of energy beets as a method to address nutrient loading in the Chesapeake Bay.

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Virgin Atlantic was also in the news this week for creating a sustainable waste-to-energy fuel from steel mill waste.

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ICAO’s market-based measure includes sustainable bio-based jet fuel. This will help to incentivize the further use of these fuels, allowing them to be more economically competitive. Additionally, there are several national initiatives underway to promote alternative fuels. In the United States, this includes the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA), Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest (SAFN), Midwest Aviation Sustainable Biofuels Initiative (MASBI), and Farm-to-Fly. READ MORE / MORE

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