Drop-in sustainable aviation fuels enabled by feedstock-agnostic lignin deoxygenation

Webber, Matthew S.; Yang, Zhibin; Bell, David C.; Brandner, David G.; Bussard, Jeremy R.; Watson, Jamison; Stone, Michael L.; Wu, Xianyuan; Neuendorf, Quinn S.; Myers, Logan C.; Heyne, Joshua S.; Beckham, Gregg T.; Román-Leshkov, Yuriy

doi:10.1016/j.xcrp.2025.102687

Drop-in sustainable aviation fuels enabled by feedstock-agnostic lignin deoxygenation

Journal Article · Mon Jul 07 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Cell Reports Physical Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2025.102687· OSTI ID:2574735

Webber, Matthew S. ^[1]; Yang, Zhibin ^[2]; Bell, David C. ^[2]; ^[3]; Bussard, Jeremy R. ^[3]; Watson, Jamison ^[1]; ^[3]; Wu, Xianyuan ^[1]; Neuendorf, Quinn S. ^[4]; Myers, Logan C. ^[4]; Heyne, Joshua S. ^[5]; ^[3]; ^[1]

Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Current sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) require blending with petroleum-derived fuels due to incomplete hydrocarbon distributions, most notably a lack of aromatics. Lignin, the most abundant renewable source of aromatics, is a promising feedstock for addressing this limitation. Here, we demonstrate a sequential reductive catalytic fractionation and continuous hydrodeoxygenation process that converts multiple woody feedstocks into aromatic hydrocarbons at up to 93% of the theoretical carbon yield. Blending these products with commercial SAFs produces drop-in compatible fuels with elastomer swell performances equivalent to conventional aviation fuels. The process is adaptable across multiple biomass sources, yielding aromatic hydrocarbons with consistent enthalpic efficiencies and fuel properties. These findings establish a scalable route to 100% drop-in SAFs, leveraging lignin-derived aromatics within the existing biofuels infrastructure.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 2574735

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--2A00-93478

Journal Information:: Cell Reports Physical Science, Journal Name: Cell Reports Physical Science Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 6; ISSN 2666-3864

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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