ABSTRACT

The urgency to critically consider biofuels as potential alternative transportation fuels for engine systems and their sustainability for air transportation purposes is a great step toward global climate control, mitigation of our dependence on fossil fuels, and the overall reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the aviation industry. Production and utilization of biojet fuels by the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) approach in a sustainable manner will present a plausible solution to mitigate the current overdependence on fossil fuel energy resources for this sector. In this approach, the bio-waxes generated via catalytic bio-syngas conversion are further hydroconverted in the presence of suitable catalysts to produce biojet fuels. Though commercial sources of waxes are mainly petroleum-based, synthetic waxes commonly derived by the Fischer–Tropsch (FT) approach also contributes significantly to the current global wax supply.

This chapter discusses sustainable options for biofuels production, their utilization for transportation applications, and cutting-edge technologies utilized for jet fuels production. Moreover, recent advances in the FTS technology toward jet fuels production and catalysts 596employed for the hydroconversion of FT waxes into aviation (biojet) fuels production are also reviewed. Finally, perspectives are evaluated on both the current and future production and utilization of biojet fuels for the aviation purposes.