Sustainable aviation fuels: entering a new era of research and development

Abstract

As one of the world's fastest-growing sectors in terms of CO₂ emissions, the aviation industry has an urgent need to reduce carbon emissions. Sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) can achieve reductions of 80–85% in CO₂ emissions compared to conventional aviation fuels. These fuels are derived from a diverse array of feedstocks and process technologies. Currently, commercially promising routes include the hydrotreatment of esters and fatty acids (HEFA), Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FT), alcohol-jet synthesis (AtJ), and power-to-liquid (PtL) processes. Among them, the PtL route stands out for its use of feedstocks derived from industrial or atmospheric CO₂ and green hydrogen, which aligns with the sustainable development goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This strategy is poised to make significantly contributions towards achieving carbon neutrality in the aviation industry. Compared with the development of HEFA, FT and AtJ technologies, PtL remains in the nascent phase of laboratory exploration and development, with a lack of systematic analyses and summaries of the reaction mechanism and key catalyst research. Therefore, in this paper, we summarize the progress in understanding of the reaction mechanism and catalyst research for PtL SAF technology. We further dissect the impact of catalyst design and modulation on catalytic performance, aiming to offer insights and inspiration for the future development of cutting-edge catalysts in this domain.