Incorporating hardwood logging residues into feedstock for aviation fuel in the Central Appalachian Region
The goal of this project is to support the development of a sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and coproducts industry derived from woody biomass feedstock in the Central Appalachian Region (CAR). To achieve this goal, the project will quantify and characterize woody biomass feedstock and identify optimal aviation biofuel and coproduct supply chains including commercial-ready conversion processes in the CAR. The key output of the project will be a regional aviation biofuel development plan crafted around the CAR’s underutilized assets. The development plan will be anchored to metrics that gauge the potential impacts of the industry’s development on the supply of aviation biofuels and on regional social, human and economic indicators. The core components of the project are the: (i) quantification, characterization, and sustainability of hardwood logging residue feedstock in the CAR; (ii) definition of biofuel and coproduct pathways that leverage existing and potential resources in the CAR’s private, National Forest, and previously mined lands; (iii) assess market opportunities for the feedstock, aviation biofuels, and coproducts within the CAR; and (iv) the economic analysis of the identified pathways.
These pages are dedicated toward displaying multiple potential configurations of a SAF industry. Currently, two different pathways and two different levels of potential biomass are evaluated. The bpathways include two different sized biorefineries requiring 545,000 dry short tons or 725,000 dry short tons of hardwood forest residues. The available supply is determined based on whether the supply is within 1 mile or 3 miles of a road on slopes less than 40 degrees.
Appalachia Biorefinery=545 with 1 mile restriction
Appalachia Biorefinery=725 with 1 mile restriction