Economic and emissions impacts of renewable fuel goals for aviation in the US

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a goal that one billion gallons of renewable jet fuel is consumed by the US aviation industry each year from 2018. The authors examine the economic and emissions impacts of this goal using renewable fuel produced from a Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) process from renewable oils. The authors' approach employs an economy-wide model of economic activity and energy systems and a detailed partial equilibrium model of the aviation industry. If soybean oil is used as a feedstock, the authors find that meeting the aviation biofuel goal in 2020 will require an implicit subsidy from airlines to biofuel producers of $2.69 per gallon of renewable jet fuel. If the aviation goal can be met by fuel from oilseed rotation crops grown on otherwise fallow land, the implicit subsidy is $0.35 per gallon of renewable jet fuel. As commercial aviation biofuel consumption represents less than 2% of total fuel used by this industry, the goal has a small impact on the average price of jet fuel and carbon dioxide emissions. The authors also find that, under the pathways they examine, the cost per tonne of CO2 abated due to aviation biofuels is between $50 and $400.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2013.10.001
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096585641300181X
• Record URL:
  • https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/66507
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/09658564
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Winchester, Niven
  • McConnachie, Dominic
  • Wollersheim, Christoph
  • Waitz, Ian A
• Publication Date: 2013-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 116-128
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
  • Volume: 58
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0965-8564
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09658564

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aviation; Biomass fuels; Economic impacts; Economic models; Environmental impacts; Fuel consumption; Greenhouse gases; Pollutants
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Economics; Energy; Environment; Planning and Forecasting; I10: Economics and Administration; I15: Environment; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01505097
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: NTL, TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 27 2014 10:45AM