Dedicated energy crops are promising feedstocks to make biofuels including jet fuels. This study applies life cycle analysis (LCA) to estimate direct well-to-wake (WTW) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (g CO 2 e/MJ) for jet fuel derived from five energy crops—biomass sorghum, miscanthus, switchgrass, poplar, and willow—via Fischer–Tropsch-to-Jet (FTJ) and Ethanol-to-Jet (ETJ) pathways. The WTW boundary includes direct emissions from biomass production, fuel production, and fuel combustion. The R miscanthus: 10.3; switchgrass: 11.7; poplar: 11.9; and willow: 8.7 g CO 2 e/MJ) than ETJ (33.2; 33.8; 34.8; 36.2; and 31.7 g CO 2 e/MJ, respectively). When market-mediated emissions are included, miscanthus exhibits the lowest total emissions across energy crop pathways. Although results are sensitive to modeling assumptions, they indicate that high-yielding perennial and woody crops, particularly when planted on marginal land, could significantly reduce WTW emissions for bio-jet fuels by combining low direct emissions with soil carbon gains and favorable market-mediated effects. • Life cycle analyses of jet fuels from five energy crops using 2023 Billion-Ton data. • Biomass sorghum, miscanthus, switchgrass, poplar, and willow are assessed nationwide. • Fischer–Tropsch-to-jet direct well-to-wake emissions are 5.5–11.9 g CO2e/MJ. • Ethanol-to-jet direct well-to-wake emissions are 31.7–36.2 g CO2e/MJ. • Including market-mediated effects, perennials and woody crops lower total emissions.
Kwon et al. (Sat,) studied this question.