A major report published by the Task provided a comprehensive analysis of conversion technologies and challenges involved in making hydrocarbons such as (drop in) fuels from biomass. On the basis of this highly cited report the FPB/B group was asked to contribute to a Transport Canada funded study on the feasibility of establishing a biojet supply chain in Canada over the short (2020) and longer-term (2025). The key conclusions of this report were that, in the short term, the supply chain for biojet will be based on oils and fats (the oleochemical route) while the longerterm supply chain will be based on lignocellulosic feedstocks such as forest residues. The IEA and Transport Canada reports caught the attention of Boeing who had been monitoring progress in the development of low carbon emitting fuels. Boeing approached the FPB/B group to assemble a team that would carry out “An assessment of the potential viability of producing biojet from woody biomass in Western Canada”. With contributions from colleagues within the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering including Prof Shahab Sokhansanj, Dr Mahmood Ebadian and Prof Xiaotao Bi the report showed that it could be possible to use current and potential forest residues to supply a significant amount of biojet fuel, but that there would be significant logistical challenges while the siting of the final production facilities will be impacted by various factors, such as the respective locations of the biomass, conversion facilities and airports. Boeing was encouraged enough by this work and supported a subsequent proposal that was submitted to the industry-led Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Green Aviation Research and Development Network. The resulting AMT Project (Assessment of likely Maturation Technologies for biojet production) was approved. As well as the FPB/B group the project will be co-led by NORAM (a local engineering company) and involve Air Canada, West Jet, NRCan’s CanMet lab, US DoE’s PNNL lab, skyNRG (a Dutch biojet supply chain company), Bombardier and Boeing. Dr Susan van Dyk, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Wood Science and member of the FPB/B group, will act as the project coordinator, complementing her ongoing activities as manager of the IEA Bioenergy Task 39 activities. Building on the earlier IEA/UBC work the project identified the pyrolysis/HTL route of forest residue to biojet fuel as the least problematic, with the upgrading of biocrude-to-biojet as a key step that has to be resolved. While the various biocrudes
are being assessed for their ease of upgrading to biojet fuel by colleagues at CanMet and PNNL the UBC group will continue to monitor advances in technology development, assess the life cycle (LCA) benefits of the various routes to biojet fuel and how current forest certification schemes such as FSC, PEFC, etc., might be adapted to include the use of forest residues for biojet fuel production. However, in the same way that the right policies were key in the development of bioethanol/biodiesel use in Brazil, Canada the US and other countries, good policy will be also be essential if forest residues to biojet fuel is to be successful. This is the work being led by Susan van Dyk as part of the IEA and ATM projects
Main challenges There are a number of barriers and challenges that influence biojet fuel production and use. These include, the maturity of the technology, the cost of biojet fuel production, low oil prices, lack of supply and demand, administrative hurdles in achieving certification and the fact that biojet fuel is still mostly delivered in small batches by truck to aircraft rather than being part of the regular downstream supply chain at an airport. However, the biggest challenge is the lack of the types of policies (such as mandates, credits, incentives, loan guarantees ) that were instrumental in the development and commercialisation of bioethanol/biodiesel. Currently, the cost of producing biojet fuel is not competitive with fossil-derived jet fuel, with estimates ranging between 2-7 times higher than fossil-derived jet fuel. Given their generally low profit margins, airlines are not in a position to pay a premium for fuel. Thus, the right policies will play an important role in both bridging this price gap and facilitating the production and consumption of biojet fuels. Although the cost of biojet fuel is anticipated to become more competitive as the technologies mature, strong, ongoing policy support will be required if the aviation sector is to achieve the significant emission reductions it aspires to. British Columbia’s already established biomass supply chain from forests that are third party certified is a major reason why groups such as Boeing think that biomass-to-biojet-fuel might be pioneered in Canada. For further information contact Dr Susan van Dyk at jsvandyk@mail.ubc.ca or Dr Jack Saddler at jack.saddler@ubc.ca.
No action
Million tonnes of CO2
Technology
2005
Operations Infrastructure Additional technologies
Improve fleet fuel efficiency by 1.5% per year from now until 2020 2010
By 2050, net aviation carbon emissions will be half of what they were in 2005
Stabilise net emissions from 2020 through carbon-neutral growth
2020
2030
Known technology, operations and infrastrucure measures
Economic measures
Biofuels and additional new-generation technology
Net emissions trajectory
2040
Carbon-neutral growth
-50% by 2050
2050
branchlines
11