© 2013 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Correspondence to: Daniel Klein-Marcuschamer, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, USA.
E-mail: dklein@lbl.gov
Modeling and Analysis
Technoeconomic analysis of renewable
aviation fuel from microalgae,
Pongamia pinnata, and sugarcane
Daniel Klein-Marcuschamer, University of Queensland, Australian Institute for Bioengineering
and Nanotechnology, St Lucia, Australia; Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, USA; Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
Christopher Turner, University of Queensland, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and
Nanotechnology, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
Mark Allen, IOR Energy Pty Ltd, Bulimba, QLD, Australia
Peter Gray, University of Queensland, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology,
St Lucia, Australia
Ralf G Dietzgen, Peter M Gresshoff, Ben Hankamer, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD,
Australia
Kirsten Heimann, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
Robert Speight, Lars K Nielsen, University of Queensland, Australian Institute for Bioengineering
and Nanotechnology, St Lucia, Australia
Paul T Scott, Evan Stephens, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
Received December 2, 2012; revised February 11, 2013; accepted February 13, 2013
View online at Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com); DOI: 10.1002/bbb.1404;
Biofuels, Bioprod. Bioref. (2013)
Abstract: Technoeconomic analysis of renewable aviation fuels has not been widely considered,
despite the increasing global attention that the field has received. We present three process models for
production of aviation-fuel from microalgae, Pongamia pinnata seeds and sugarcane molasses. The
models and assumptions have been deposited on a wiki (http://qsafi.aibn.uq.edu.au) and are open and
accessible to the community. Based on currently available long-term reputable technological data, this
analysis indicates that the biorefineries processing the microalgae, Pongamia seeds, and sugarcane
feedstocks would be competitive with crude oil at $1343, $374, and $301/bbl, respectively. Sensitivity
analyses of the major economic drivers suggest technological and market developments that would
bring the corresponding figures down to $385, $255, and $168/bbl. The dynamic nature of the freely
accessible models will allow the community to track progress toward economic competitiveness of
aviation fuels from these renewable feedstocks. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley
& Sons, Ltd
Supporting information may be found in the online version of this article.
Key words: technoeconomic analysis; aviation fuels; biofuels; microalgae; pongamia; sugarcane.