May 2, 2022
Publications
>
Article
No

Techno-economic, life cycle, and environmental cost assessment of biojet fuel obtained from Pinus pinaster by turpentine hydrogenation

Publicated to: Sustainable Energy & Fuels. 6 (10): 2478-2489 - 2022-05-17 6(10), DOI: 10.1039/d2se00275b

Authors:

Bolonio, David; Sanchez-Canales, Maria; Jimenez-Oyola, Samantha; Ortega, Marcelo F; Donoso, David; Garcia-Martinez, Maria-Jesus; Lapuerta, Magin; Canoira, Laureano
[+]

Affiliations

Escuela Super Politecn Litoral, ESPOL, Fac Ingn Ciencias Tierra, Campus Gustavo Galindo Km 30-5,Via Perimetral, Guayaquil, Ecuador - Author
Univ Castilla La Mancha, ETS Ingn Ind, Grp Combustibles & Motores, Avda Camilo Jose Cela S-N, Ciudad Real 13071, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Dept Energy & Fuels, ETS Ingenieros Minas & Energia, Rios Rosas 21, Madrid 28003, Spain - Author
See more

Abstract

The reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by the aviation industry is a complex challenge. Biojet fuels can significantly contribute to lowering the GHG emissions, but their cost is still a major issue. In this study, life cycle assessment (LCA) and environmental cost assessment were used to evaluate the production of biojet fuel obtained from Pinus pinaster resin in Spain through hydrogenation of turpentine. Both studies were carried out using the software SimaPro. The Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method was employed to quantify the environmental impacts. A process simulation scheme with Aspen Plus was carried out to evaluate the feasibility of an industrial implementation and to assess mass and energy balances for being used in the LCA. Production and external costs due to environmental impacts obtained by the Environmental Prices methodology have been considered. The results show that emissions are 5.9 g CO2 eq. per MJ, when a yield of 4 kg of resin per tree per year is considered, which means a reduction of 93% compared to the fossil jet fuel (stated in Directive (EU) 2018/2001 as being of 94 g CO2 eq. per MJ). In addition, if the resin yield increases above 6 kg per tree per year or/and if environmental externalities are considered, biofuel becomes cost-competitive compared to fossil jet fuel. In conclusion, this research shows that the biofuel obtained from pine resin hydrogenation is cost-competitive and can be blended with traditional jet fuel to reduce the environmental impact of the GHG emissions from the aviation industry.
[+]

Keywords

% reductionsAviationBiodieselBiofuelsBiokeroseneCarbon dioxideComputer softwareCost assessmentCost competitiveCost estimatingEconomics life cycleEnvironmental costsEnvironmental footprintsEnvironmental impactForestryGas emissionsGreenhouse gas emissionsGreenhouse gasesHydrogenationJet fuelLife cycleOilPinus pinasterResinsSimaproTechno-economics

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Sustainable Energy & Fuels due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Fuel Technology.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-04-25:

  • Google Scholar: 14
  • WoS: 8
  • Scopus: 9
[+]

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-25:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 34.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 32 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 16.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/85891/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 164
  • Downloads: 63
[+]

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Ecuador.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (BOLONIO MARTIN, DAVID) and Last Author (CANOIRA LOPEZ, JOSE LAUREANO).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been GARCIA MARTINEZ, MARIA JESUS.

[+]

Awards linked to the item

Financial support by Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (Project FUELCAM. SBPLY/17/180501/000299) is gratefully acknowledged. David Donoso acknowledges Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) for a predoctoral contract (ref. 2019-PREDUCLM-10887). The authors also thank graduate students Daniela Aquino, Gonzalo Gomara, Javier Koninckx, Marcos Alvarez de Arcaya, and Ignacio Goy (UPM) for their technical contribution to this work.
[+]