The aviation industry is widely known for its massive carbon footprint and the amount of fuel processed due to cheap commercial flights. Hence, in order to combat this issue, over the past decade, there has been a rapid growth in the introduction of biofuel initiatives. Currently, the production costs for biofuels do not allow for their widespread introduction to the industry, yet some companies initiate biofuel usage as a partial substitute for conventional fuel. Thus, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency, there exist the following types of biofuels: hydro processed esters and fatty acids (HEFA), gasification (FT), pyrolysis & upgrading, HTL & upgrading, alcohol to jet, advanced sugar fermentation, ethanol, and sugar extraction. Such biofuels as pyrolysis, HTL, and alcohol to jet are currently at the stage of pilot studies and have not been introduced to the industry.
Ethanol, sugar extraction, and HEFA, on the other hand, are now globally introduced and used mostly for small commercial flights. The primary barrier to the extensive use of biofuels concerns the fact that as of the most recent calculation the production pathway for conventional jet fuel is nearly 11 times cheaper compared to the alcohol to jet production. As a result, the majority of companies opt for conventional or hybrid fuel procurement in order to retain sustainable pricing for the service. Airlines operating on biofuel globally include Scandinavian Airlines, Lufthansa, KLM, Virgin Australia, British Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and Azul Airlines. Hence, while much research has been done in the sphere of aviation biofuels, there is a demand for defining the sustainable pathways to producing cost-efficient biofuels.