A comparative study on the prospects of sustainable aviation fuels in Sweden

Abstract: The aviation industry needs to move towards a more sustainable future to achieve the climate goals set forth by the European Union (to reach a climate neutral economy by 2050), and in the recent past the interest in sustainable jet fuel has increased. In this report we compared different feedstocks and pathways for production of sustainable jet fuels from an economical, technical and environmental perspective for long-term implementation. A literature study was performed to gather data regarding fossil-based jet fuel, feedstocks for jet bio fuels and pathways for producing sustainable jet fuels. There are multiple ways of producing sustainable jet fuel and this report compares three different pathways: Hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA), hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) and electrofuel. Of these pathways, only HEFA has received certification for use as a jet fuel as of April 2020. The report also compared three different feedstocks: forest residues, used cooking oil and food waste. The comparison was done with a Pugh matrix - a criteria-based matrix - and was based on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction, fuel readiness level (what stage of development the pathway is in), fuel production cost, yield and potential fuel output (how much of Sweden’s current jet fuel consumption can potentially be covered by each pathway/feedstock). The relevant data for the comparison was also gathered from the literature study. To put the comparison in a long-term context, the parameters where given a percentage of the total 100 points: potential fuel output – 30%, GHG-e – 30%, price – 20%, Yield – 10% and fuel readiness level – 10%. The study found that HTL with forest residues is most suitable for long-term implementation because of a high potential fuel output and low price. If the fuel production price of electrofuels can go down e.g. through government subsidies it would be another suitable alternative due to its massive potential in GHG emission reduction.