Assessing the environmental and economic sustainability of hydrogen and sustainable fuels for aviation

Achieving substantial climate change mitigation in the aviation sector requires a transition to fuels with minimal life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the near-term, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) in the form of drop-in fuels can displace conventional fuels and achieve significant reductions in emissions. Drop-in fuels have important advantages in terms of their compatibility with existing fuel supply chains (transportation, storage, refuelling) and use in existing aircraft engines without modification, due to their similarities with conventional fuels in terms of their physical characteristics and chemical composition. Hydrogen is a key input to the production of sustainable aviation fuels, both for oil-based feedstocks via hydrotreatment process, and for alcohol-to-jet fuel production pathways. Longer-term, direct use of hydrogen as an aviation fuel offers potential advantages as, in its liquid form, it exhibits a higher gravimetric energy density than conventional fuels and SAF, and thus could improve the fuel efficiency of aircraft. However, use of hydrogen fuels would require substantial changes both in aircraft technologies, as well as in ground systems for the production, delivery, storage, and liquefaction of hydrogen, and refuelling of aircraft. This project will comprehensively assess the potential of SAF and hydrogen fuels for low carbon aviation, considering: technology readiness of key technologies; anticipated future availability of fuels; techno-economic performance; and life cycle GHG, environment, and resource implications.
Deliverables:
-Life cycle assessment model of key SAF and hydrogen fuel production routes and their use
-Techno-economic models of SAF and hydrogen fuel production routes and their use