In September, President Joe Biden proposed a sustainable fuel tax credit as part of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge, which brings federal companies together to scale up the production of SAF across the country. Biden set the objective of a 20% drop in aviation emissions by 2030 and accomplishing a totally zero-carbon air travel sector by 2050.
“Since carinata is grown in the off season it does not compete with other food crops, and it does not activate food versus fuel issues.” Our results would be particularly relevant to the state of Georgia, which is the sixth-largest customer of traditional air travel fuel in the country, hosts the busiest airport in the world, and is home to Delta, a leading international airline company,” he said.
“Carinata-based SAF could help minimize the carbon footprint of the air travel sector while developing economic opportunities and enhancing the flow of environment services across the southern region.”
A flowering field of carinata. Credit: Bill Anderson
Bidens sustainable fuel tax credit
Dwivedis findings come at an opportune time. In September, President Joe Biden proposed a sustainable fuel tax credit as part of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge, which brings federal firms together to scale up the production of SAF across the country. Biden set the goal of a 20% drop in air travel emissions by 2030 and achieving a totally zero-carbon aviation sector by 2050.
The proposed tax credit requires a 50% decrease in life process carbon emissions– a requirement that carinata surpasses, according to the teams findings.
The rate for producing SAF from carinata ranged from $0.12 per liter on the low end to $1.28 per liter, based upon existing economic and market rewards. When existing economic rewards were included in the analysis, the rate for petroleum-based air travel fuel was $0.50 per liter– higher than carinata-based SAF.
” Current policy systems need to be continued to support production and circulation of SAF. The Grand Challenge announced by President Biden might be a game-changer in supporting carinata-based SAF production in the southern region,” Dwivedi stated.
Growing carinata in the Southeast
Dwivedi becomes part of the Southeast Partnership for Advanced Renewables from Carinata, or SPARC, a $15 million job moneyed by the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Through SPARC, researchers have spent the previous 4 years examining how to grow carinata in the Southeast, checking out concerns associated with optimal genes and best practices for the highest crop and oil yield. With those answers in location, Dwivedi is positive about carinatas role in supporting the local economy and environment.
” In the South, we can grow carinata as a winter crop due to the fact that our winter seasons are not as severe compared to other regions of the country,” he said. “Since carinata is grown in the off season it does not compete with other food crops, and it does not activate food versus fuel issues. Furthermore, growing carinata offers all the cover-crop benefits related to water quality, soil biodiversity, health, and pollination.”
The missing piece of the puzzle, according to Dwivedi, is the lack of local infrastructure for squashing the seed and processing the oil into SAF. His current research concentrates on modeling the environmental and financial feasibility of producing and consuming carinata-based SAF throughout Georgia, Alabama and Florida by taking a supply-chain perspective.
” Our results would be specifically pertinent to the state of Georgia, which is the sixth-largest customer of standard aviation fuel in the nation, hosts the busiest airport worldwide, and is home to Delta, a leading global airline company,” he stated. “I am anticipating pursuing more research for providing a sustainable alternative to our existing design of air travel. Carinata has the potential to be a great deal for our rural areas, the aviation industry, and most notably, environment change.”
Reference: “Break-even cost and carbon emissions of carinata-based sustainable air travel fuel production in the Southeastern United States” by Asiful Alam, Md Farhad Hossain Masum and Puneet Dwivedi, 21 August 2021, GCB Bioenergy.DOI: 10.1111/ gcbb.12888.
Co-authors on the study include Asiful Alam and Md Farhad Hossain Masum, both at the University of Georgia. SPARC also includes Brian Bledsoe and Dan Geller, College of Engineering, and Henry Sintim and Greg Colson, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Financing for this research study was gotten through the USDA-NIFA Bioenergy Coordinated Agricultural Project Grant # 2016-11231.
This research study is a part of an unique concern (” Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production from Brassica carinata in the Southern United States”) published in GCB Bioenergy.
Plant-based jet fuel could decrease emissions by 68%.
Changing petroleum-based aviation fuel with sustainable aviation fuel derived from a kind of mustard plant can reduce carbon emissions by approximately 68%, according to new research from University of Georgia researcher Puneet Dwivedi.
Dwivedi led a team that approximated the break-even rate and life cycle carbon emissions of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) derived from oil gotten from Brassica carinata, a non-edible oilseed crop. The study was published in GCB Bioenergy.
” If we can protect feedstock supply and supply appropriate economic incentives along the supply chain, we might potentially produce carinata-based SAF in the southern United States,” said Dwivedi, associate teacher in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. The air travel industry gives off 2.5% of all carbon dioxide emissions nationwide and is accountable for 3.5% of international warming. “Carinata-based SAF might help in reducing the carbon footprint of the air travel sector while producing economic opportunities and enhancing the circulation of community services across the southern area.”
