DOE outlines path to 100% aviation biofuels

By Jack Quinn | 03/19/2024 06:47 AM EDT

The department road map says biomass production to make clean fuels could be increased without taking away from food or forestry supplies.

A view from the roof of a biomass power plant, overlooking wood chip piles and conveyors.

A view from the roof of a biomass power plant, overlooking wood chip piles and conveyors, at Fort Drum, New York. Mary Esch/AP

The United States could triple its production of biomass and satisfy 100 percent of projected demand for airplane fuel by midcentury, according to a new Department of Energy report.

The analysis from DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) last week found that biomass production could reach 1.1 billion tons per year by 2050, including in a scenario with weak market demand and no technological innovations in the sector. Materials such as agricultural residues and landfill waste that are available today but largely unused could add 350 million more tons of biomass annually, DOE said.

Bioenergy production has the potential to “cover 15 percent of our future energy needs,” said Valerie Sarisky-Reed, director of DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, in a video released by the department.

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If annual biomass production was tripled, it could produce 60 billion gallons of low-carbon fuels while not taking away from food or forestry supplies, DOE said.

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