Biorefinery development for the conversion of softwood residues into sustainable aviation fuel: Implications from life cycle assessment and energetic-exergetic analyses

Biofuels present a strong potential to support the rapid decarbonization of the mobility sector and substitution for fossil fuels. In the aviation sector, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) are currently produced from various feedstocks and conversion pathways to achieve sustainability targets. A new SAF production pathway has been recently developed, which is based on enzymatic hydrolysis of softwood residues (saw dust), fermentation of wood sugars into isobutene, and subsequent conversion to SAF isoparaffins by oligomerization and hydrogenation. This pathway is currently under consideration for inclusion as an additional annex to ASTM standard D7566.