Abstract
BackgroundBio-jet fuels compatible with current aviation infrastructure are needed as an alternative to petroleum-based jet fuel to lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Cradle to grave life cycle analysis is used to investigate the global warming potential and fossil fuel use of converting poplar biomass to drop-in bio-jet fuel via a novel bioconversion platform. Unique to the biorefinery designs in this research is an acetogen fermentation step. Following dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis, poplar biomass is fermented to acetic acid and then distilled, hydroprocessed, and oligomerized to jet fuel. Natural gas steam reforming and lignin gasification are proposed to meet hydrogen demands at the biorefineries. Separate well to wake simulations are performed using the hydrogen production processes to obtain life cycle data. Both biorefinery designs are assessed using natural gas and hog fuel to meet excess heat demands.ResultsGlobal warming potential of the natural gas steam reforming and lignin gasification bio-jet fuel scenarios range from CO2 equivalences of 60 to 66 and 32 to 73 g MJ−1, respectively. Fossil fuel usage of the natural gas steam reforming and lignin gasification bio-jet fuel scenarios range from 0.78 to 0.84 and 0.71 to 1.0 MJ MJ−1, respectively. Lower values for each impact category result from using hog fuel to meet excess heat/steam demands. Higher values result from using natural gas to meet the excess heat demands.ConclusionBio-jet fuels produced from the bioconversion of poplar biomass reduce the global warming potential and fossil fuel use compared with petroleum-based jet fuel. Production of hydrogen is identified as a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel use in both the natural gas steam reforming and lignin gasification bio-jet simulations. Using hog fuel instead of natural gas to meet heat demands can help lower the global warming potential and fossil fuel use at the biorefineries.
Highlights
Bio-jet fuels compatible with current aviation infrastructure are needed as an alternative to petroleumbased jet fuel to lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels
The biorefinery category is the largest source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that contribute to the Global warming potential (GWP) and jet fuel use is the second largest
When biogenic CO2 emissions are removed from the GWP calculation, the biorefinery is still the largest source of CO2 for the natural gas steam reforming (NGSR), NGSR-hog fuel (HF), and lignin gasification (LG) bio-jet simulations, but the ancillary chemicals become the second largest contributor to the GWPs
Summary
Bio-jet fuels compatible with current aviation infrastructure are needed as an alternative to petroleumbased jet fuel to lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Separate well to wake simulations are performed using the hydrogen production processes to obtain life cycle data. Both biorefinery designs are assessed using natural gas and hog fuel to meet excess heat demands. A general consensus from this research indicates that ethanol has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared with petroleum-based fuels [1, 2]. Its use is limited by a lack of compatibility with much of the existing transportation infrastructure This lack of compatibility extends to the aviation sector where the chemical and physical properties of ethanol prohibit its use as an alternative to petroleum-based jet fuel. Attempting to restructure the world’s airline fleet to operate on new type of fuel could cost close to a trillion U.S dollars [3]
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