Assessing Renewable Energy Supply for Brazilian Ethanol‐to‐Jet Plants

ABSTRACT

Ethanol is the leading global biofuel, but it faces the challenge of diversifying its use into hard‐to‐electrify sectors such as aviation. The Ethanol‐to‐Jet (EtJ) process, which converts ethanol into hydrocarbons for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), is forecast to be a key SAF pathway for scaling up soon. However, EtJ involves added energy and costs compared to using ethanol directly as fuel in other applications. Here, an assessment is conducted to indicate how renewables can provide the additional energy required for EtJ. An EtJ process model is reassessed by substituting natural gas‐powered utilities with alternative configurations using biomethane, lignocellulose, and renewable electricity to meet the EtJ process's heat, steam, electricity, and hydrogen demands. The assessment considers the Brazilian context, which features an abundant and diverse supply of renewable energy sources. The results demonstrate that ethanol feedstock is the dominant energy input and cost driver, and the optimal choice for supplying additional renewable energy depends on local resource availability. Moreover, the work discusses how integrating EtJ with ethanol production facilities may combine access to relatively inexpensive renewable energy with gains in energy efficiency.