NREL regional analysis aims to help accelerate SAF production and delivery

March 22, 2023 |

In Washington D.C., the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Chemical Engineer Arpit Bhatt explained that the path to SAF will look different for every airport depending on a number of conditions. “The availability of feedstocks and the use of jet fuel vary across different locations,” Bhatt said. “It is very important to do a regional analysis across the entire supply chain to understand the impacts.” To help SAF take off, a NREL research team performed a regional analysis of airports to develop tailored SAF strategies. Results can help airports understand and plan for their unique conditions and inform stakeholder groups like aircraft manufacturers, airlines, policymakers, fuel blending/refining companies, farmers, researchers, and agricultural companies. NREL said that the study appears in the paper “Evaluation of Performance Variables to Accelerate the Deployment of Sustainable Aviation Fuels at a Regional Scale,” published in the journal Energy Conversion and Management. The paper examines the effects of the following performance variables on SAF production and deployment: Feedstock availability near airports, cost of SAF production, process conversion technology, reduction in life-cycle GHG emissions compared to fossil-derived jet fuel, infrastructure compatibility for storing SAF at or near airports and policies and incentives affecting SAF production. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

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Category: SAF

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