Commercial air traffic using forest residues as fuel.

This could become a reality now that Luleå University of Technology is starting its research.
Luleå University of Technology has been granted funding by the Swedish Energy Agency for a feasibility study. The hope is to produce and test aviation jet fuel based on Swedish forest residues within just a couple of years. The hope is also to test fly a commercial aircraft powered by the fuel in Sweden.

The feasibility study will also facilitate and minimize the risk of a first commercial plant for the production of aviation biofuel based on forest residues in Sweden.

Want to show that it works in practice
– The main goal of the entire project is to provide a technical and economic validation of the concept; to fly commercially on Swedish-produced biojet fuel, based on Swedish forest residues. The result of the study will clarify the conditions for a demonstration of the entire value chain from forest-based raw material to aviation jet fuel, and can be seen as a pre-commercial step to the actual use of biojet fuel in commercial aviation in Sweden. We want to show that this works in practice, and not just on paper, says Fredrik Granberg, project manager and researcher in energy technology at Luleå University of Technology in a press release.

The feasibility study that has now been granted by the energy authority involves, among other things, a technical investigation of manufacturing technology for a possible demonstration project at LTU Green Fuels, fuel certification, investigation of the distribution chain of the biojet fuel to ensure efficient delivery to Swedish airports, planning of field tests in aircraft, and investigating what a business plan would look like to support commercialization of the manufacturing technology.

Source: svt.se