Aviation Fuels

Explore the fuel price and emissions intensity of aviation fuel.

Emissions estimates use the Argonne National Laboratory's Research & Development Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (R&D GREET) model (Wang et al., 2023). The underlying source for a value in the table can be seen by placing your mouse cursor over that value. The data sources are also cited—with linked references—in the Key Assumptions section next.

Note: 

• These results are highly context dependent and may not represent the optimal values for each fuel pathway. We recommend caution, and review of other sources, before making comparisons between the cases reported in the table above.
• These results do not include effects of credits such as those from the Inflation Reduction Act, Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN) credits from the Renewable Fuel Standard, or Low Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFS).

Key Assumptions

The data and estimates presented here are based on the following key assumptions:

• Conventional Jet Fuel Price Estimates: The conventional jet fuel price is estimated from the transportation jet fuel price from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA's) Annual Energy Outlook (EIA, 2023). Prices are converted to dollars per gasoline gallon equivalent using the Lower Heating Values from the R&D GREET 2023 model (Wang et al., 2023), assuming sustainable aviation fuel pathways have the same lower heating value as conventional jet fuel. The Transportation Annual Technology Baseline (ATB) does not provide plant metrics for conventional jet fuel because the price is based on current market values and not on modeled costs with specific plant design assumptions.
• Price Estimate References: The price estimate for alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) fuel is based on Tao et al. (Tao et al., 2014) and Tao and Markham et al. (Tao et al., 2017a). For the hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) pathway, it is based on analysis from Tao and Milbrandt et al. (Tao et al., 2017b). For the Fischer Tropsch (FT) pathway, it is based on analysis from Tan et al. (Tan et al., 2017). The Fast Pyrolysis (FP) pathway price estimate is based on (Dutta et al., 2021), (Dutta et al., 2023). The use of algae as a feedstock is described in (Atnoorkar et al., 2024) and a preliminary, unoptimized price estimate is included in the supplemental data.
• Current Pathways: HEFA, ATJ, and FT pathways to sustainable aviation fuels are approved by ASTM for blending up to 50% of the final product. The pathways for future fuels are not the same as current pathways. 
• Conventional Jet Fuel Estimates: Emissions estimates for conventional jet fuel are from the R&D GREET model (Wang et al., 2023) and use the petroleum ultra-low-sulfur jet pathways. The well-to-wake estimate assumes a single-aisle passenger aircraft (e.g., Boeing 737).
• Emissions Estimate References: The emissions for the ATJ pathway are from R&D GREET model assumptions (Wang et al., 2023) based on (Lee et al., 2021) and (Han et al., 2017). For the HEFA pathway, they are based on (Xu et al., 2022); for the FT pathway, they are based on (Han et al., 2013). Well-to-tank emissions for the FP pathway are equivalent to diesel emissions for that pathway and are based on (Dutta et al., 2023).
• Biogenic Carbon: The biogenic carbon in a biofuel such as the sustainable aviation fuel pathway is considered carbon-neutral in the R&D GREET model because the biogenic carbon is assumed to be sourced from the atmosphere during biomass growth. According to R&D GREET model convention, the biogenic carbon credit is allocated to the well-to-tank phase of the biofuel life cycle, which often results in a negative well-to-tank CO2e emissions value after considering greenhouse gas emissions associated with all upstream activities (e.g., farming, land use change, feedstock transportation, and biomass conversion to biofuel).
• Plant characteristics are based on the process designs of (Tao et al., 2017a), (Dutta et al., 2021), (Dutta et al., 2023), (Tan et al., 2021), (Tao et al., 2017b), and (Atnoorkar et al., 2024).

The data downloads include additional details of assumptions and calculations for each metric.

To see additional information, place your mouse cursor over a value in the table. 

Definitions

For detailed definitions, see:

CO2e

NOx

SOx

PM

Conventional jet fuel

Fuel price

Scenarios

Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Well-to-tank emissions

Well-to-wake emissions

References

The following references are specific to this page; for all references in this ATB, see References.