Experts Convert Food Waste into Biofuel for Aircraft

Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a strategy to convert food waste into sustainable aviation fuel that can be used for commercial aircraft. Their findings are published in Nature Communications.

Reducing carbon emissions in the aviation industry is a challenge compared to efforts for the automotive sector. To address this concern, the researchers used hydrothermal liquefaction, which transforms wet food waste into biocrude oil, simulating nature's oil production but in a rapid manner. Refining the biocrude oil is achieved through catalytic hydrotreating to remove impurities and reach strict industry benchmarks for jet fuel without the need for special additives to the fuel or changing the aircraft structure.

Innovations that convert waste into reusable energy contribute to a “circular economy” and are a significant step toward the aviation industry's goal to meet net-zero carbon emissions. The biomass-derived fuel works as a direct, drop-in replacement for conventional fossil fuels. The findings provide a proof of concept and will be used to scale up to mass commercial production, requiring industry investment and resources.

Read more from PopSci and Nature Communications.