Alternative Fuels’ Blending Model to Facilitate the Implementation of Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation

Abstract

The aviation sector contributes by 4% to the global economy. However, it has been reported that the sector is responsible for 2% of net global CO 2 emissions, and 12% of the global transportation sector alone. The Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) can serve as a cost-effective mechanism to promote low carbon fuels and mitigate CO 2 emissions, where integrating alternative jet fuels may reduce the cost associated with CORSIA's offsetting requirements. Therefore, this study considers the following alternative production pathways; Gas to Liquid, Oil to Jet, Gas to Jet, Sugar to Jet, Catalytic Hydro-thermolysis Jet and Alcohol to Jet; for the development of optimal fuel blending model. A multi-objective model is developed and transformed into a singular objective function for a convenient minimisation of the total fuel-related costs for operators under CORSIA. The model considers the reclaiming possibility of offsetting costs when a CORSIA's eligible fuel is utilised. The results demonstrated that an increase in carbon price increases the total net cost of fuel purchasing and carbon taxing, therefore, enhance the opportunity for airlines to integrate larger shares of alternative fuels. In addition, the presented model managed to select optimal fuels' blending ratios considering carbon credit approach, which achieved a total cost reduction by 0.13% to 8.08%, assuming a carbon tax range of 3-180 $/tonne CO 2 .

Keywords: CORSIA, Alternative jet fuel, Jet-A, carbon offsetting, optimal blending