Professor Fei Qiang's team at Xi'an Jiaotong University recently published findings in Chemical Engineering that evaluate the environmental and economic aspects of biomanufacturing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from biogas (CO2 and CH4) derived from anaerobic digestion of food waste.
Using commercial tools to simulate the industrial production process, the team conducted lifecycle assessments and techno-economic feasibility analyses. Their research leveraged synthetic biology to engineer cell factories that efficiently convert CO2 and CH4 into liquid fuel precursors, setting the groundwork for novel decarbonized bioenergy production pathways.
This biomanufacturing approach employs photoautotrophic microorganisms and methanotrophs to convert CO2 and CH4 into bio-oils, which are then processed for extraction and upgrading to produce SAF. Due to its lower cooling requirements, this biomanufacturing pathway demonstrates significantly reduced environmental impacts compared to thermochemical conversion pathways (e.g., hydrothermal liquefaction).
Moreover, considering subsidies for feedstock treatment, this pathway achieves an internal rate of return of up to 38%, indicating its commercialization potential. This study provides scientific evidence for the environmental, technical, and economic feasibility of addressing global warming and the valorization of greenhouse gases.
(a) Environmental impacts comparison between biochemical and thermochemical conversion pathways (hydrothermal liquefaction).
(b) Impacts of feedstock price and internal rate of return on minimum selling price of bio-jet fuel. (Figure provided by the research team).
Related paper information: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.150242
