Lignin-Based Jet Fuel
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Catalytic process with lignin could enable 100% sustainable aviation fuel / NREL
The word “could” is doing a lot of work in that headline, and it’s prudent to be skeptical of claims made in press releases (even press releases published in reputable news wires and produced as a consequence of well-known academic collaborations).
That said, lignin is the polymer in plants that give them rigidity, and jet fuel is incredibly polluting but difficult to replace with a non-polluting alternative (because batteries are heavy and aircraft would require a lot of batteries to operate, and most other contemporarily available combustible solutions are just as bad as jet fuel, but in different ways).
If this research pans out, we could eventually see a new class of jet fuel that would allow airline operators to swap out heavy fossil fuel-based products for a lignin-based alternative.
The paper is also careful to note, however, that this is a pathway toward that sort of outcome, not an outcome unto itself.
So there’s a chance a hydrogen-based jet fuel (which comes with its own downsides, but which can be made into a zero-carbon option if produced with renewable energy) will become the default before this alternative gets off the ground.
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