One man's trash is another man's… jet fuel? As strange as it may sound, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign believe they have figured out a way to make this unlikely scenario a reality—at least on a small scale.
I am writing this week in Natural communicationsAgricultural engineers have outlined a strategy to collect excess food waste, convert it into biofuel, and then “recycle” that fuel into jet fuel that can go directly into the aircraft without requiring additional changes to the aircraft's infrastructure. They compared their food waste-derived fuel to industry standards and found that it met all the required standards for conventional jet fuel.
While these discoveries are still more of a proof of concept, they open up an exciting possibility for using food waste (of which, of course, there is no shortage) to help the aviation industry move closer to its ambitious goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions over the next three decades.
“In a linear economy, we simply make something, use it and throw it away. In this project, we take waste and recover energy and materials to make a usable product. This fills the missing link in the circular paradigm,” University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor and corresponding author Yuanhui Zhang says the statement.
Planes lag behind cars in reducing emissions
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates In 2022 alone, transportation accounted for approximately 29 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Of these, about seven percent are commercial aircraft. Modern cars have reduced emissions in recent years, thanks in part to switching to battery-electric power. And while battery-powered planes are theoretically possible for some short flights, they simply don't provide enough energy to power a passenger plane traveling across the country (jet fuel carries approximately 50 times more energy per kilogram than conventional lithium-ion batteries. As a result, airplanes lag behind cars in reducing emissions.
What about so-called biomass-based systems? environmentally friendly aviation fuel (CBC)? According to some estimates, SAF, which mainly refers to fuels derived from organic materials, may cut emissions from flights by up to 80 percentcompared to conventional jet fuel. While ethanol and other biomass derivatives have been available for cars for decades, they have remained more elusive for aircraft because their chemistry does not meet the much more stringent specifications needed for jet fuel.
Sabrina Summers from the University of Illinois demonstrates the hydrotreating of biocrude oil from food waste. Image: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Processing biomass into aviation fuel
To meet these demands, food waste is needed. In this new experiment, the team started by collecting food waste from nearby food processing plants. They then used a chemical process called hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), which essentially mimics the way the Earth naturally creates crude oil from organic matter over millions of years, except without waiting. HTL acts as an advanced “pressure cooker” that allows you to quickly rewind nature's timeline.
Having obtained large quantities of crude oil from food waste, the researchers then decided to turn it into jet fuel using a two-step process. The first stage was the removal of salt, ash, moisture and other impurities. They then used a purification process called catalytic hydrotreating to remove other unwanted elements such as nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen. What remains are only certain hydrocarbons needed to produce jet fuel. They tested various catalysts and found that cobalt-molybdenum was the most effective and commercially available metal catalyst for driving the chemical reactions needed to convert oil into aviation fuel.
The team took aviation fuel derived from food waste and tested it to meet current fuel standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the Federal Aviation Administration. It has passed qualifying tests and meets industry requirements without the need for any special additives. This means that this fuel would theoretically propel a commercial aircraft.
Connected: [All your burning questions about sustainable aviation fuel, answered]
The findings are a first step showing that aviation fuel made from food waste is at least possible. However, actually providing enough of it to power an entire passenger plane is another matter entirely. Scaling up activities at this level requires time, resources and a lot of books outside of academia.
“Our research helps solve scientific and engineering problems, and then industry can get involved,” Zhang said.
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