Researchers at IVL Swedish Environmental Institute and Luleå University of Technology have found a solution in a preliminary study that means that today's fossil fuel for Swedish domestic flights can be replaced with biofuel made from forest residues.
Now the researchers want to demonstrate the technology behind the production of biofuel and conduct commercial domestic flights in Sweden.
– We have found a solution where today's fuel for domestic flights in Sweden can be replaced in the near future with biofuel produced from Swedish forest raw materials. We know manufacturing techniques that work and we know that the supply of residual products from Swedish forests is very large, says Fredrik Granberg, project manager at Energy Technology, Luleå University of Technology.
In 2017, the researchers conducted a feasibility study for the production of green aviation fuel. The study shows that technology based on the gasification of biomass in combination with a liquefaction process, so-called Fischer Tropsch synthesis, can provide competitive and sustainable production of biofuel from forest industry residues. The efficiency for the production of green aviation fuel from the two most promising forest raw materials, branches and tops (GROT) and black liquor, is approximately 40 percent. The researchers therefore conclude that Sweden could become self-sufficient in biofuel with the production technology they propose.
– We have a forest industry with a highly developed and efficient raw material logistics and this provides advantages. Our developed pulp industry also has very good opportunities to integrate biofuel production, which can lower the production costs of biofuel aviation fuel, says Erik Furusjö, researcher at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and adjunct professor in energy technology at Luleå University of Technology.
IVL has led the project and is responsible for the sustainability assessments. Raw material supply that has minimal environmental impact and a production process that is efficient and does not use non-renewable energy are two key issues for the fuel produced to be sustainable.
The pilot project that is now being planned can be carried out at LTU Green Fuels' facility in Piteå and will provide enough fuel to operate commercial domestic flights. The university is now looking for funding for the project, which is estimated to cost around SEK 150 million.
– Our plan for the development of green aviation fuel made from Swedish forest residues involves a desire to quickly start work towards a technology demonstration of green aviation fuel made from forest residues, as it takes five to ten years before stage three, which means that a first commercial large-scale plant can be in production, says Fredrik Granberg.
