INDIA’S AVIATION OPPORTUNITY: TURNING AGRICULTURAL RESIDUE AND LOW-COST SOLAR INTO COMPETITIVE SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL WITH POWER-AND-BIOMASS-TO-LIQUIDS

The report argues that India is uniquely positioned to lead in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production via the power-and-biomass-to-liquids (PBtL) pathway. By combining world-leading low-cost green hydrogen (driven by cheap solar power) with an abundance of surplus agricultural residue, India can produce SAF at costs significantly lower than global benchmarks. The analysis shows that PBtL is more resource-efficient and has a lower carbon intensity than other pathways like HEFA, ATJ, and BtL. The report projects that PBtL SAF could reach price parity with fossil aviation turbine fuel (ATF) in the 2030s, providing a hedge against crude oil price volatility and reducing air pollution from crop residue burning. It identifies regions around Delhi, Pune, and Mumbai airports as ideal for first-of-a-kind demonstration projects.

• PBtL SAF can be produced in India at a levelized cost of $1.41/L, which is approximately 30-40% below global SAF benchmarks and five times lower than e-SAF reference prices in the EU ($7.2/L).
• PBtL becomes the most cost-effective SAF production option in India when green hydrogen prices fall below approximately $3.4/kg, a threshold already approached in recent Indian auctions.
• PBtL SAF offers the deepest greenhouse gas emissions reductions among biogenic pathways, achieving a carbon intensity below 4.5 gCO2e/MJ, representing a reduction of over 95% relative to fossil ATF.
• PBtL is significantly more resource-efficient than other pathways, requiring 1.8-2.6 times less agricultural residue than BtL and 4.5-6.5 times less than ATJ to produce the same amount of fuel.
• The production of PBtL SAF can mitigate severe air pollution by creating demand for the estimated 130 million metric tons of agricultural residue currently burned annually in India, which caused 44,000 to 98,000 premature deaths annually between 2003 and 2019.
• PBtL SAF has the technical potential to fully replace India's projected 2050 aviation demand of 62 Mt, as the upper estimate of surplus agricultural residue (235 Mt) could produce up to 67 Mt of SAF.
• Under base case assumptions, PBtL SAF production costs are projected to fall below fossil ATF prices for international runs in 2041, though parity could occur as early as 2033 under high oil price scenarios.
• Domestic PBtL projects are structurally insulated from the monetary risks that affect fossil ATF, such as USD-denominated commodity inflation and rupee depreciation, potentially reaching levelized cost parity by 2036.
• Spatial analysis identifies the areas surrounding Delhi, Pune, and Mumbai airports as the most favorable for first-of-a-kind integrated PBtL projects due to the overlap of solar resource quality, residue availability, and airport proximity.

APA

ESPOSITO, D., ACHAREKAR, V., BENNETT, J. D., RAJAGOPAL, D., & PHADKE, A. (2026). INDIA’S AVIATION OPPORTUNITY: TURNING AGRICULTURAL RESIDUE AND LOW-COST SOLAR INTO COMPETITIVE SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL WITH POWER-AND-BIOMASS-TO-LIQUIDS. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/IECC-SAF-REPORT-2026-web.pdf

Chicago

ESPOSITO, DAN, VINAYA ACHAREKAR, JOSÉ DOMÍNGUEZ BENNETT, DEEPAK RAJAGOPAL, and AMOL PHADKE. INDIA’S AVIATION OPPORTUNITY: TURNING AGRICULTURAL RESIDUE AND LOW-COST SOLAR INTO COMPETITIVE SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL WITH POWER-AND-BIOMASS-TO-LIQUIDS. Energy Innovation, 2026. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/IECC-SAF-REPORT-2026-web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=ESPOSITO |first1=DAN |last2=ACHAREKAR |first2=VINAYA |last3=BENNETT |first3=JOSÉ DOMÍNGUEZ |last4=RAJAGOPAL |first4=DEEPAK |last5=PHADKE |first5=AMOL |title=INDIA’S AVIATION OPPORTUNITY: TURNING AGRICULTURAL RESIDUE AND LOW-COST SOLAR INTO COMPETITIVE SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL WITH POWER-AND-BIOMASS-TO-LIQUIDS |publisher=Energy Innovation |date=June 2026 |url=https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/IECC-SAF-REPORT-2026-web.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{esposito2026indias, author = {ESPOSITO, DAN and ACHAREKAR, VINAYA and BENNETT, JOSÉ DOMÍNGUEZ and RAJAGOPAL, DEEPAK and PHADKE, AMOL}, title = {{INDIA’S AVIATION OPPORTUNITY: TURNING AGRICULTURAL RESIDUE AND LOW-COST SOLAR INTO COMPETITIVE SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL WITH POWER-AND-BIOMASS-TO-LIQUIDS}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/IECC-SAF-REPORT-2026-web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }