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Abstract
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as a drop-in fuel from biomass feedstocks can reduce carbon emissions from the aviation sector and provide both energy security and resiliency to the sector, considering the volatile nature of conventional aviation fuel (CAF) prices. This study aims to analyze the economics and carbon intensity of SAF from non-merchantable biomass and logging residues across the Southeast United States. A techno-economic and life cycle analyses were performed following the alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) production pathway with two alcohol intermediates: ethanol-to-jet (ETJ) and iso-butanol-to-jet (Iso-BTJ), to produce SAF using logging residues from per hectare of forestland in Georgia. The economic assessment suggests Iso-BTJ as the most promising SAF production pathway, whereas environmental evaluation prefers the ETJ pathway due to high greenhouse gas (GHG) emission savings. Moreover, I utilized a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model to develop a SAF supply chain model from logging residues across Georgia to meet SAF demand at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) Airport. The minimum aviation fuel selling price (MASP) with co-product credits ranged from $1.92 L-1 to $2.25 L-1 with 70% GHG savings compared to CAF. We also developed a supply chain optimization model of SAF derived from biomass harvested from overstocked private forestlands in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina following the MILP model. Around 106.6 million metric tons (t) of softwood biomass and 66.4 million t of hardwood biomass are available from 1.7 million hectares of overstocked private forestlands across the region for SAF production. The findings also revealed that subsidies from federal policies supporting SAF production in the region for 10 years would equal $13.23 billion, which is lower than the total societal benefits in terms of the value ($9.95 billion) of 440 million metric tons of merchantable timber saved from wildfire risks and the avoided social cost of carbon ($18.15 billion) stored in the merchantable timber. The results from this study highlights the vital role of sustainable utilization of forest biomass to develop a bioeconomy in the region, strengthening ecosystem resilience and minimizing environmental footprint of the aviation sector.