Power-to-Liquids as Renewable Fuel Option for Aviation: A Review
Abstract
Abstract Severe reductions in the greenhouse gas intensity of aviation fuels are required to get a growing aviation sector on a flightpath compliant with the Paris Climate Agreement. Introducing renewable energy into aviation is challenging. The power‐to‐liquid (PtL) pathway uses renewable electricity, CO 2 , and water to synthesize a sustainable alternative fuel that chemically resembles conventional jet fuel. The state‐of‐art of key technologies for PtL fuel production as well as the environmental and techno‐economic performance of the resulting fuel in comparison with fossil and biomass‐derived jet fuel are reviewed.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The short term costs of PtL fuels (driven mainly by the price of renewable power) are greater than CJF.
“A recent technoeconomic and environmental analysis of Schmidt et al. (2018) showed that the short term costs of PtL fuels (driven mainly by the price of renewable power) are greater than CJF.”
From Bio-aviation Fuel: A Comprehensive Review and Analysis of the Supply Chain Components (2020) · cites this paper as Schmidt et al. 2018
The methanol pathway is currently not yet certified by ASTM for jet fuel production.
“The methanol pathway is an alternative that, while currently not yet certified by ASTM for jet fuel production [63,78], could present itself as an interesting option for the aviation sector.”
From Use of sustainable fuels in aviation: a review (2022) · cites this paper as [63]
Providing the FT process employs iron or cobalt catalysts, ASTM does not restrict feedstock origin for drop-in FT fuels, and this pathway can already be used in commercial aircraft up to 50% blends.
“Providing that the FT process employs iron or cobalt catalysts, ASTM does not restrict the feedstock origin for drop-in FT fuels, and so this pathway can already be used in commercial aircraft up to 50% blends [63,74].”
From Use of sustainable fuels in aviation: a review (2022) · cites this paper as [63]
There are two established pathways for production of PtL fuels: the Fischer-Tropsch pathway and the methanol pathway.
“There are two established pathways for production of PtL fuels-the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) pathway and the methanol pathway [63].”
From Use of sustainable fuels in aviation: a review (2022) · cites this paper as [63]
Aromatic compounds generated through methanol-to-gasoline could contribute towards achieving higher engine compatibility specifications and receiving certification for higher blending ratios or total replacement of conventional kerosene.
“Aromatic compounds are also generated through this process, which is of extreme interest and could contribute towards achieving higher engine compatibility specifications, and to receive certification for higher blending ratios or, potentially, total replacement of conventional kerosene [63].”
From Use of sustainable fuels in aviation: a review (2022) · cites this paper as [63]
Another possible feature of SOEL is co-electrolysis of CO2 and steam to produce syngas, which would eliminate the need for RWGS, but this technology is in an early development stage.
“Another possible feature form SOEL is the ability of co-electrolysis of CO 2 and steam to produce syngas, which would be of extreme interest since it would also eliminate the need for RWGS, but this technology is in an early development stage [63,87].”
From Use of sustainable fuels in aviation: a review (2022) · cites this paper as [63]
There is some skepticism regarding the capability of biogenic feedstocks to address expected future fuel demand without compromising obligations.
“There is some skepticism regarding the capability of biogenic feedstocks to address expected future fuel demand without compromising some of these obligations [63].”
From Use of sustainable fuels in aviation: a review (2022) · cites this paper as [63]
Cites
Rapidly falling costs of battery packs for electric vehicles
Nykvist, B., & Nilsson, M. (2015) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/nclimate2564 · Cited by 1,819 · see citing works
High-Flux Solar-Driven Thermochemical Dissociation of CO 2 and H 2 O Using Nonstoichiometric Ceria
Chueh, W. C., Falter, C. P., Abbott, M., Scipio, D., Furler, P., Haile, S. M., & Steinfeld, A. (2010) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1197834 · Cited by 1,515 · see citing works
Porosoff, M. D., Yan, B., & Chen, J. G. (2015) · Energy & Environmental Science · doi:10.1039/c5ee02657a · Cited by 1,352 · see citing works
Indium Oxide as a Superior Catalyst for Methanol Synthesis by CO 2 Hydrogenation
Martin, O., Martín, A. J., Mondelli, C., Mitchell, S. J., Segawa, T. F., Hauert, R., Drouilly, C., Curulla‐Ferré, D., & Pérez‐Ramírez, J. (2016) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.201600943 · Cited by 1,125 · see citing works
Aviation and global climate change in the 21st century
Lee, D. S., Fahey, D. W., Forster, P. M., Newton, P. J., Wit, R. C. N., Lim, L. L., Owen, B., & Sausen, R. (2009) · Atmospheric Environment · doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.04.024 · Cited by 1,072 · see citing works
Transport impacts on atmosphere and climate: Aviation
Lee, D. S., Pitari, G., Grewe, V., Gierens, K., Penner, J. E., Petzold, A., Prather, M. J., Schumann, U., Bais, A., & Berntsen, T. (2010) · Atmospheric Environment · doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.06.005 · Cited by 765 · see citing works
Stephenson, A. L., Kazamia, E., Dennis, J. S., Howe, C. J., Scott, S. A., & Smith, A. G. (2010) · Energy & Fuels · doi:10.1021/ef1003123 · Cited by 571 · see citing works
Mitigation of CO2by Chemical Conversion: Plausible Chemical Reactions and Promising Products
Xu, X., & Moulijn, J. A. (1996) · Energy & Fuels · doi:10.1021/ef9501511 · Cited by 467 · see citing works
Biofuel blending reduces particle emissions from aircraft engines at cruise conditions
Moore, R. H., Thornhill, K. L., Weinzierl, B., Sauer, D., D’Ascoli, E., Kim, J., Lichtenstern, M., Scheibe, M., Beaton, B., Beyersdorf, A. J., et al. (2017) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature21420 · Cited by 414 · see citing works
Three years to safeguard our climate
Figueres, C., Schellnhuber, H. J., Whiteman, G., Rockström, J., Hobley, A., & Rahmstorf, S. (2017) · Nature · doi:10.1038/546593a · Cited by 399 · see citing works
Development of Water Electrolysis in the European Union
Bertuccioli, L., Chan, A., Hart, D., Lehner, F., Madden, B. J., & Standen, E. (2014) · Cited by 272 · see citing works
CO 2 separation using bipolar membrane electrodialysis
Eisaman, M. D., Alvarado, L., Larner, D., Wang, P., Garg, B., & Littau, K. A. (2010) · Energy & Environmental Science · doi:10.1039/c0ee00303d · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Production of Fischer–Tropsch liquid fuels from high temperature solid oxide co-electrolysis units
Becker, W. L., Braun, R. J., Penev, M., & Melaina, M. W. (2012) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2012.08.047 · Cited by 256 · see citing works
Marxer, D., Furler, P., Scheffe, J. R., Geerlings, H., Falter, C. P., Batteiger, V., Sizmann, A., & Steinfeld, A. (2015) · Energy & Fuels · doi:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.5b00351 · Cited by 206 · see citing works
Self-citationEnergy and Climate Impacts of Producing Synthetic Hydrocarbon Fuels from CO <sub>2</sub>
van der Giesen, C., Kleijn, R., & Kramer, G. J. (2014) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es500191g · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Fasihi, M., Bogdanov, D., & Breyer, C. (2017) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su9020306 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Techno-economic study of the storage of fluctuating renewable energy in liquid hydrocarbons
König, D. H., Freiberg, M., Dietrich, R., & Wörner, A. (2015) · Fuel · doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2015.06.085 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
Specht, M. (1998) · International Journal of Hydrogen Energy · doi:10.1016/s0360-3199(97)00077-3 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Un-burnable oil: An examination of oil resource utilisation in a decarbonised energy system
McGlade, C., & Ekins, P. (2013) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.09.042 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Biojet fuels and emissions mitigation in aviation: An integrated assessment modeling analysis
Wise, M., Muratori, M., & Kyle, P. G. (2017) · Transportation Research Part D Transport and Environment · doi:10.1016/j.trd.2017.03.006 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
PEM Electrolysis H2A Production Case Study Documentation
James, B. D., Fuel Cell Technologies Program (EE-3F) USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Colella, W. G., Moton, J. M., Saur, G., & Ramsden, T. (2013) · doi:10.2172/1214980 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Greenhouse Gases from Geothermal Power Production
Fridriksson, T., Mateos, A., Audinet, P., et al. (2016) · World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks · doi:10.1596/24691 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Climate Impact and Economic Feasibility of Solar Thermochemical Jet Fuel Production
Falter, C. P., Batteiger, V., & Sizmann, A. (2015) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b03515 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Self-citationGasoline and Distillate Fuels From Methanol
Avidan, A. A. (1988) · Studies in surface science and catalysis · doi:10.1016/s0167-2991(09)60524-3 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
The potential of electricity-based fuels for low emission transport in the EU
Gurini, A. (2018) · Cited by 49 · see citing works
A Study on the Emissions of Alternative Aviation Fuels
Riebl, S., Braun‐Unkhoff, M., & Riedel, U. (2017) · Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power · doi:10.1115/1.4035816 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Improved Fischer-Tropsch Economics Enabled by Microchannel Technology
LeViness, S., Jarosch, K. T., Fitzgerald, S. P., Yang, B., & McDaniel, J. (2011) · Cited by 26 · see citing works
A Study on the Emissions of Alternative Aviation Fuels
Riebl, S., Braun‐Unkhoff, M., & Riedel, U. (2016) · doi:10.1115/gt2016-57361 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Erarbeitung einer fachlichen Strategie zur Energieversorgung des Verkehrs bis zum Jahr 2050
Kasten, P., Mottschall, M., & Köppel, W. (2016) · OpenUMWELT · doi:10.60810/openumwelt-6325 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Mitigating International Aviation Emissions: Risks and Opportunities for Alternative Jet Fuels
Takriti, S. E., Pavlenko, N., & Searle, S. (2017) · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Associated Gas Monetization via miniGTL: Conversion of Flared Gas into Liquid Fuels and Chemicals
Fleisch, T. H. (2014) · World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks · doi:10.1596/22116 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Unknown (2016) · TIB Hannover · doi:10.2314/gbv:880207698 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Bio-aviation Fuel: A Comprehensive Review and Analysis of the Supply Chain Components
Doliente, S. S., Narayan, A., Tapia, J. F. D., Samsatli, N. J., Zhao, Y., & Samsatli, S. (2020) · Frontiers in Energy Research · doi:10.3389/fenrg.2020.00110 · Cited by 295 · see citing works
“One route is power-to-liquid (PtL) which involves the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen via a renewableelectricity-powered electrolyzer and then hydrogen is combined with CO2/CO to produce BAF (ATAG, 2017; Schmidt et al., 2018).”
BackgroundMethodUse of sustainable fuels in aviation: a review
Cabrera, E., & de Sousa, J. M. M. (2022) · Energies · doi:10.3390/en15072440 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
Power-to-Liquid fuels for aviation—Processes, resources and supply potential under German conditions
Drünert, S., Neuling, U., Zitscher, T., & Kaltschmitt, M. (2020) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115578 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Freire Ordóñez, D., Halfdanarson, T., Ganzer, C., Shah, N., Dowell, N. M., & Guillén-Gosálbez, G. (2022) · Sustainable Energy & Fuels · doi:10.1039/d2se00757f · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Chen, C., Garedew, M., & Sheehan, S. W. (2022) · ACS Energy Letters · doi:10.1021/acsenergylett.2c00214 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
- Authors
- Schmidt, P., Batteiger, V., Roth, A., Weindorf, W., & Raksha, T.
- Affiliations
- Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik (DE)
- Bauhaus Luftfahrt (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Schmidt, Patrick
- Venue
- Chemie Ingenieur Technik
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2018-01
- Volume
- 90
- Issue
- 1-2
- Pages
- 127-140
- ISSN
- 0009-286X (ISSN-L)
- 1522-2640
- OpenAlex
- W2782768145
- Cited by
- 279
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 39 · 2025: 54 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 11.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Chemie Ingenieur Technik (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Bundesministerium für Verkehr und Digitale Infrastruktur
- Forschungsvereinigung Verbrennungskraftmaschinen
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Advanced Aircraft Design and Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Chemical Engineering › Catalysis › Catalysts for Methane Reforming
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Energy Engineering and Power Technology › Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems
- Keywords
- power-to-liquids, sustainable aviation fuel, jet fuel, CO2 utilization, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, techno-economic analysis, renewable electricity, synthetic fuels
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
