According to the International Energy Agency, in 2023 the aviation sector generated around 2.5% of the total carbon dioxide emissions related to the energy sector. This is directly linked to the sustained growth that the aviation sector has experienced post Covid that is also having a great impact in the amount of carbon emmisions released to the environment by the sector every year.
Aircrafts operate mainly with kerosene as fuel that is a distillate fraction with a boiling point ranging between 190 and 230 degrees Celsius. It is a highly heterogeneous mixture of hydrocarbons with varying contents of linear alkanes, branched and cyclic saturates and aromatic compounds depending on their source*. The use of kerosene poses great risk to society and to the environment as its combustion generates great amounts of carbon dioxide and other toxic gases as well as fine particulates. This generates air pollution and facilitates global warming as a result of the emission of greenhouse gases.
A promising route towards reducing carbon emissions in the aviation sector is the introduction of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs). These fuels encompass blends of fossil and synthetic (mainly from renewable sources such as biomass, waste cooking oil, etc) fuels.**
Some of the certified processes to produce SAFs*** :
Fischer-Tropsch Synthetic Kerosene
Esther and Fatty Acid Hydroprocessing
Alcohol-to-jet Synthetic Kerosene
Catalytic Hydrothermolysis