GREET the Dawn of a New Day in Sustainable Aviation Fuels
The GREET model from Argonne National Laboratory creates opportunities for researchers to look at the future of aviation fuels. Photo courtesy of Unsplash.
Airplanes and their jet fuel pose a real – and growing – hurdle to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. Despite becoming 130% more efficient since 1978, airplanes are still responsible for 2% of the CO2 emissions caused by humans and 11% of U.S. transportation-related emissions.
On September 9, 2021, the White House issued a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge to inspire an increase in the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) to at least 3 billion gallons per year by 2030 and potentially to 35 billion gallons by 2050. The grand challenge outlines a greener pathway to cleaner, bluer skies.
But, where to begin?
Innovative thinkers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory developed the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (GREET) model in the mid-1990s to evaluate and compare the energy and environmental impacts of various fuels and vehicles. So far, Argonne researchers, together with researchers from several other organizations, have used GREET to develop carbon intensities of more than 30 SAF production pathways for the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation.
To learn more, check out the “GREET the Dawn of a New Day in Sustainable Aviation Fuels” Bioprose: Bioenergy R&D Blog. This research is supported and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office.
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