EUBCE 2026 - Yuan-Hsi CHIEN - A Chemically Rigorous Life Cycle Assessment of Next-Generation Synthetic Aviation Fuels

A Chemically Rigorous Life Cycle Assessment of Next-Generation Synthetic Aviation Fuels

Short Introductive summary

This study addresses a critical limitation in current evaluations of next-generation sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) by overcoming the lack of chemical granularity inherent in existing life cycle assessments. We introduce a chemically rigorous mass and energy balanced methodology that explicitly integrates ASTM D7566 and D4054 property specifications as physical constraints to evaluate the feasibility of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), methanol-to-jet (MTJ), and fast pyrolysis (FP) pathways. By analyzing these technologies under both fossil-intensive baselines and future low-carbon scenarios, the study reveals that while sewage sludge-derived hydrothermal liquefaction offers the only immediate compliance with ReFuelEU mandates, the long-term viability of other pathways is driven by the decarbonisation of hydrogen and electricity supplies. Notably, the analysis establishes that optimizing biochar management for sequestration rather than energy recovery can transform forestry residue fast pyrolysis into a carbon-negative technology, achieving emissions as low as -5.7 gCO2e/MJ.

L.A. Mannion, Trinity College Dublin, IRELAND
Y.H. Chien, Trinity College Dublin, IRELAND
A. Bell, Trinity College Dublin, IRELAND
C. McNamara, Trinity College Dublin, IRELAND
M. Prussi, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, ITALY
D. Chiaramonti, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, ITALY
K. Zamanpour, Trinity College Dublin, IRELAND
M.R. Ghaani, Trinity College Dublin, IRELAND
S. Dooley, Trinity College Dublin, IRELAND