Sustainable Aviation Fuels Report Offers Flight Plan for Commercial Scale Production

The development of alternative aviation fuels is a high priority for both the military and the commercial airline industry. A new report by Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest (SAFN) identifies the factors that propel the need for these alternative fuels: high cost of petroleum, national security and climate change concerns.

The Northwest consumes over 800 million gallons of aviation fuel for commercial and military uses annually. SAFN, in “Powering the Next Generation of Flight,” acknowledges there is no single source or technology that can meet that demand.  As a result, they focus on “complete supply chains that can draw upon diverse feedstocks.”

One of the more promising supply chains in the Pacific Northwest is the forest industry, the region’s largest source of biomass, according to the report. Because forest residuals—tree limbs, tops, small or broken logs, and other wood—are generally piled at landings where the logs are prepared for loading, then either left on site to decompose or be burned, these residuals are readily available for bioenergy production. According to the report, this material “represents around 20-30 percent of above-ground biomass cut in a typical Northwest logging operation.” While mill residuals are another supply stream, the report notes that 95 percent of this material is considered captured supply, as it is already being used by the mills to power their facilities or sold to pulp and paper companies. Long-term, changes in pulp and paper market dynamics could change this, however, and biofuels producers might capture a larger portion of mill residual supplies.

How much of this material is available in the Northwest? A study conducted by Washington State University (WSU) showed that 1.5 million bone dry tons (BDT) of this material is “economically deliverable to Northwest Central locations at $80/BDT or under” on an annual basis. WSU’s Bioproducts Science and Engineering Laboratory tests indicate that 72 biojet gallons can be produced from every one BDT of forest biomass. “That would translate into nearly 1.1 billion gallons of biojet production annually,” according to the report.

What are some of the challenges that need to be overcome before this can become reality?

1. Technology—while many companies are working on proving the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass (forest residues included) into biofuels. The technology has yet to be proven on a commercial scale, however. One of the study’s recommendations is to build a demonstration facility to accelerate the advancement to commercial scale.

2. Logistics—Because forest biomass is a bulky material with a moisture content of roughly 50 percent, delivery can be a economic challenge. As a result, conversion facilities need to be located with an economic haul distance of the supply. Portable densification and pretreatment technologies could expand haul distances, however.

3. Competition with materials and power markets—Building materials, pulp and paper manufacturers pose little price risk for biofuels producers, but bioelectricity companies will compete with biofuels producers for raw material supply. Policy will be critical in how much supply will be available for biofuels.

4. Sustainability—SAFN found the sustainability issue the one item that they failed to reach consensus on and warned that the forestry supply chain section of the report concludes with the formulation of a “action flight plan.”

Key recommendations in the plan include :

• “Facilitate discussions and analysis regarding the sustainability framework for use of forest biomass to create liquid fuels.” This process should involve efforts to assess the impact of bionergy on forests, agreement on whether—and if so how—current best practices need to be improved, and to develop a sustainability standards and a verification system.
• “Policies must balance use of limited biomass resources.” Policies should either advantage biofuels or ensure parity with bioelectricity.
• “Fund technology and workforce development to overcome logistical challenges.” The study recommends improvements in R&D efforts and green job training.

Because the technology issues pose significant obstacles to commercial production of biofuels, the SAFN also offers an action flight plan for developing technology. Key recommendations include :

• “Build up existing research and development efforts at Northwest institutions.
• “Build a demonstration project aimed at proving the feasibility of a commercial biorefinery

This last recommendation will require the following according to SAFN:

• "Build a consortium involving regional public universities, industry, DOD and state governments to explore development of a demonstration biorefinery.
• Upgrade biomass assessments by states, the Western Governors Association and the federal government to identify prospective biorefinery sites in areas with diverse feedstock supplies.
• Model a reliable supply chain built on multiple feedstocks.
• Build early markets with long-term contracts to supply fuel to commercial aviation and U.S. military branches in order to draw private financing to the project. Issue a Request for Information seeking proposals for bioprocessing technology developments that could generate products from Northwest feedstocks to supply Northwest military facilities.
• Seek federal funding from agencies including USDA Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels, USDA Biorefinery Assistance Program, DOE/USDA Biomass Research and Development Initiative, and DOE EERE Office of Biomass.
• Urge the USDA Biorefinery Assistance Program to increase funding for loan guarantees and increase coverage from the current 80 percent to 90 percent, and specify that “rural” targeting of the program means 75 percent or more of consumables are derived from rural purchases (in order to allow co-location at urban refinery sites.
• Urge federal agencies to identify priority technology investments and create a coherent strategy that links bench, pilot, demonstration and commercial development, thus eliminating the financial “valley of death.”
• Contracts and funding should specify performance-based sustainability criteria.”