Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): New 'wastewater' jet fuel could cut jet emissions by 70%

A new technology can turn wastewater into biofuel to cut aircraft emissions by 70% compared to conventional jet fuel, scientists say.

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) currently accounts for less than 1% of the fuel used in the aviation industry, but there is an urgent need to find greener fuel solutions as 2.5% of global carbon dioxide emissions come from aviation.

The main aviation fuel options use oil, while alternative options have been fat or grease based. In a study published April 25 in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineeringscientists have outlined a technology that turns wastewater from breweries and dairy farms into the ingredients needed for FAS – namely volatile fatty acids.

Scientists have carried out methane-activated anaerobic digestion (MAAD) – a process pioneered by Meltem Urgun Demirtasdirector of the Argonne National Lab’s Sustainable Materials and Processes department. In this process, bacteria, rather than traditional wastewater treatments, break down the organic matter in the wastewater through anaerobic digestionconverting wastewater into butyric acid and lactic acid. These acids could later be converted into SAF, the scientists said.

However, the process also produces lactic acids, which limit the production of SAF and even decrease the efficiency of its carbon when converted from volatile fatty acids to SAF. To avoid this, scientists have also created an electrochemical separation method, which extracts organic compounds from wastewater.

The end result was the development of an in situ product recovery process that removes the desired waste from complex mixtures by membrane separation. Together with anaerobic digestion, these methods allowed the team to create sustainable microbial communities that produced a large amount of butyric acid.

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Argonne National Laboratory scientists will continue to work on improving the durability of their findings and even research other feedstock materials that could be used with this technology. These efforts were funded by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Office of Bioenergy Technologies. The hope is that by funding the research efforts, the scientists will achieve their goal of commercializing the process and scaling it up to create enough SAF to meet 100% of the demand in the commercial sector.

Scientists have done it before emphasized the negative effects of wastewater on ecosystems. Algal blooms from sewage can “lead to a change in biodiversity,” said Anne Jungblut, a life sciences researcher at Britain’s National History Museum. Changes in biodiversity can trigger harmful consequences for entire rivers.

“Both wastewater streams are rich in organic matter, and their treatment using traditional wastewater treatment methods is carbon-intensive,” said the study’s lead author. Taemin Kima power systems analyst at Argonne, said in a statement. “Using our technology, we are not only treating these waste streams, but also producing sustainable, low-carbon fuel for the aviation industry.”

The membrane-assisted in-situ product recovery process reduces greenhouse gases by 70% while being a cost-effective end product. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, greenhouse gases cause climate change through heat content, which causes a ripple effect in various biomes. By reducing them significantly through this process, Argonne scientists could take the first steps to fight climate change and eliminate the need for harmful fuels.

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Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): New ‘wastewater’ jet fuel could cut jet emissions by 70%

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