Prospective Life Cycle Assessment of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Systems

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) are crucial for aviation decarbonization, but predicting their long-term environmental impact is challenging due to evolving technologies.
• Traditional life cycle assessments (LCAs) struggle with the dynamic nature of emerging SAF feedstocks and conversion processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the decarbonization potential of three distinct SAF pathways (corn, miscanthus, algae) using prospective LCA (pLCA).
• To assess the long-term environmental impacts of these SAFs under various future scenarios up to 2050.

Main Methods:

• Utilized prospective life cycle assessment (pLCA) with dynamic life cycle inventory models.
• Analyzed three SAF production pathways: corn, miscanthus, and algae biomass.
• Modeled future scenarios to project environmental impacts through 2050.

Main Results:

• The miscanthus pathway demonstrated consistently low carbon intensity (approx. 14 g CO2e MJ-1) across all scenarios.
• Algal and corn-based SAFs showed significant emission reductions by 2050, dropping from initial higher values (98.1 and 71.8 g CO2e MJ-1) to 33.1 and 49 g CO2e MJ-1, respectively.
• Emission reductions for algal and corn SAFs were most pronounced under aggressive climate policy scenarios.

Conclusions:

• Miscanthus-based SAF offers a stable and low-carbon solution.
• Algal and corn-based SAFs possess substantial decarbonization potential, particularly with supportive climate policies.
• Prospective LCA is essential for accurately assessing the future environmental performance of emerging sustainable aviation fuel technologies.