Assessing the Viability of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Decarbonisation: Environmental and Economic Sustainability

The utilization of drop-in alternative fuels in airplanes has the potential to help the European aviation industry meet its sustainability objectives. These fuels can serve as a temporary solution in the short and medium term without requiring any structural adjustments to aircraft powertrains. However, the production process for alternative fuels is often energy-intensive, and some raw materials are linked to adverse environmental effects. Moreover, producing these alternative fuels tends to be more costly compared to fossil kerosene, which may hinder their attractiveness. Hence, this study examines the ecological and financial implications of four types of alternative fuels versus fossil kerosene from a well-to-wake perspective. The analyzed sustainable aviation fuel options include those derived from power-to-liquid and biomass-to-liquids pathways. Environmental impact assessment (life cycle assessment) and economic evaluation (life cycle costing) methods are employed in this analysis. The findings reveal that using sustainable aviation fuels can mitigate airplane operation's environmental impacts; however, significant reductions require an electricity mix based on renewable energies. Furthermore, economically speaking, conventional fossil kerosene remains preferable among the alternatives explored here according to both standard scenarios as well as scenario analyses conducted.