Room: King Willem Alexander
Date: Thursday, 21 May 2026
Time: 09:00 - 10:00 CEST
Session code 5CO.1
Systems-level design and optimization of integrated biorefineries for advanced biofuels
Advancing Sustainable Aviation Fuels through Harmonized Biorefinery Assessment
Short Introductive summary
This presentation reports on a Canada–Brazil collaborative study comparing bio-based sustainable aviation fuel (Bio-SAF) and renewable naphtha production via the Gasification–Fischer–Tropsch (GFT) pathway using forest and sugarcane residues. A harmonized assessment framework was developed to align techno-economic and environmental analyses across both countries, enabling robust cross-context evaluation. Results highlight the strong decarbonization potential of GFT-based Bio-SAF, achieving over 95% GHG reduction, while underscoring the critical role of capital costs and policy support in achieving commercial competitiveness and large-scale deployment.
Presenter
Mehdi LAKHDARI
Natural Resources Canada, CANADA
Presenter's biography
Mehdi Lakhdari serves as an Economist at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) Canadian Forest Service (CFS) . For more than 15 years, Mehdi has focused on innovation and international collaboration representing Canada and developing projects under Mission Innovation Integrated Biorefineries, managing the Sustainable Aviation Fuel competition "Sky's the Limit Challenge", but also supporting the development of technology firms. Mehdi also worked on international trade (Canada - US softwood lumber Agreement), green finance and sustainable finance. Mehdi started his carrier in the private sector working for a Geneva based firm investing into oil projects before creating its own company. Mehdi is always looking for new ideas and to develop new projects. Mehdi has 2 Master's degree, Economics, and Industrial Relations.
Biographies and Short introductive summaries are supplied directly by presenters and are published here unedited
Co-authors:
C. Diffo Téguia, Natural Resources Canada, Varennes, CANADA
G. Bele, Natural Resources Canada, Varennes, CANADA
M.F. Chagas, Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials, Campinas, BRAZIL
A. Marchesan, Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials, Campinas, BRAZIL
E. de Morais, Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials, Campinas, BRAZIL
T. Lopes Junqueira, Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials, Campinas, BRAZIL
M. Lakhdari, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, CANADA
Session reference: 5CO.1.3