(Press-News.org) URBANA, Ill. — Airplane travel is more popular than ever, and our desire for fast transportation means jet fuel has become a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have discovered a novel way to address that problem—by converting food waste into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that meets industry standards without relying on fossil fuel blends. Their process, described in a new Nature Communications study, could help the aviation industry meet its ambitious goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The process in a nutshell is this: The researchers convert food waste into biocrude oil through a thermochemical conversion process called hydrothermal liquefaction, or HTL. Next, they remove impurities from the biocrude oil, and finally, they refine it with the use of hydrogen and catalysts to turn it into aviation fuel.
This approach can be applied to a variety of feedstocks and types of oil, potentially leading to a new direction for obtaining fuels.
“HTL basically mimics the natural formation of crude oil in the Earth. It uses high heat and pressure to convert wet biomass into a biocrude oil. The goal of this work is to upgrade that biocrude oil into transportation fuels that can go directly into existing energy infrastructure,” said lead author Sabrina Summers, who recently graduated with a doctoral degree from the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE), part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and The Grainger College of Engineering at U. of I.
In this project, the researchers used waste from a nearby food processing facility. Globally, over 30% of food is wasted annually at all levels of the supply chain — from farm to transportation, processing, retail, food service, and households. Food decomposition in landfills and wastewater treatment plants further contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, and recycling waste helps promote sustainability.
But HTL can process feedstock from a wide range of biowaste, including food, sewage sludge, algal bloom, swine manure, and agricultural residue.
“To meet the aviation industry’s goals to decarbonate jet fuel, we need many different renewable sources, and agriculture is going to play a critical role in terms of providing the feedstocks,” said ABE professor and corresponding author Yuanhui Zhang.
To convert biocrude oil into jet fuel, the researchers first removed impurities such as moisture, ash, and salt. They then used a process called catalytic hydrotreating to eliminate unwanted elements like nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur—leaving behind only the hydrocarbons needed for fuel. After testing dozens of options, they identified cobalt molybdenum as the most effective commercially available catalyst to drive the necessary chemical reactions and refine the oil into sustainable aviation fuel.
To optimize the hydrotreatment process, the researchers adjusted variables such as temperature, catalyst and hydrogen loads, and retention time to identify the best conditions for producing jet fuel. They then tested their sustainable aviation fuel against rigorous standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the Federal Aviation Administration. Their SAF sample passed Tier Alpha and Beta prescreening tests and met all specifications for conventional jet fuel—without requiring any additives or blending with fossil fuels.
The technology has the potential to be scaled up for commercial production, Zhang noted.
“Our research helps solve the science and engineering problems, and then the industry can step in. The process can be applied to other types of oils for SAF. It can also replace other materials, such as petroleum-derived compounds for making plastics. This has huge potential for business opportunities and economic development,” he said.
Zhang has developed an index to measure circular bioeconomy, and he said SAF provides a valuable contribution to circularity.
“In a linear economy, we just produce something, use it, and throw it away. In this project, we take the waste and recover the energy and materials to make a usable product. This fills a missing link in the circular paradigm,” he concluded.
The paper, “From food waste to sustainable aviation fuel: cobalt molybdenum catalysis of pretreated hydrothermal liquefaction biocrude,” is published in Nature Communications [DOI:10.1038/s41467-025-64645-y]. Funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (EE0009269) and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
END
Illinois researchers convert food waste into jet fuel, boosting circular economy
2025-10-30
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Under embargo: We learn physical skills by feeling rewarded, even in the absence of a reward, finds new study
2025-10-30
Press release under embargo until 30/10/25 10:00 UK time
We learn physical skills by feeling rewarded, even in the absence of a reward, finds new study
People master new physical skills, such as sports, crafts or controlling a vehicle while driving, by blending lessons learnt from both feedback on the amount of error they had in failures and the rewards of successes, even when reward cues are removed, according to a new study led by Dr Shlomi Haar from the University of Surrey.
Using a high-tech virtual reality pool setup, researchers from Surrey and Imperial College London had 32 participants play pool on a physical table while wearing a virtual ...
Scientists on ‘urgent’ quest to explain consciousness as AI gathers pace
2025-10-30
As AI—and the ethical debate surrounding it—accelerates, scientists argue that understanding consciousness is now more urgent than ever.
Researchers writing in Frontiers in Science warn that advances in AI and neurotechnology are outpacing our understanding of consciousness—with potentially serious ethical consequences.
They argue that explaining how consciousness arises—which could one day lead to scientific tests to detect it—is now an urgent scientific and ethical priority. Such an understanding would bring major implications for AI, prenatal policy, animal welfare, medicine, mental health, law, and emerging neurotechnologies such as brain–computer ...
Drones reveal unexpectedly high emissions from wastewater treatment plants
2025-10-30
Greenhouse gas emissions from many wastewater treatment plants may be more than twice as large as previously thought. This is shown in a new study from Linköping University, where the researchers used drones with specially manufactured sensors to measure methane and nitrous oxide emissions.
“We show that certain greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment plants have been unknown. Now that we know more about these emissions, we also know more about how they can be reduced,” says ...
Dancing alleviated perceived symptoms of depression and helped to understand its root causes
2025-10-30
Dance as a performative art form alleviates perceived symptoms of depression, helps to understand its root causes and promotes self-actualisation, a recent study from the University of Eastern Finland found. The multidisciplinary research collaboration brought together perspectives from psychology and social psychology, as well as from dance as a performative art form, which is rarely included in interventions related to depression.
“Depression is a major public health concern, and there is an urgent need for adjunct treatment methods. Robust evidence regarding adjunct treatments for depression already exists for physical exercise, for example. ...
Tricky treats: Why pumpkins accumulate pollutants
2025-10-30
Pumpkins, squash, zucchini and their relatives accumulate soil pollutants in their edible parts. A Kobe University team has now identified the cause, making it possible to both make the produce safer and create plants that clean contaminated soil.
The gourd family of plants comprising pumpkins, zucchini, melons, cucumbers and more are known to accumulate high levels of pollutants in their edible parts. Kobe University agricultural scientist INUI Hideyuki says: “The pollutants don’t easily break down and thus pose a health risk to people who eat the fruit. Interestingly, other plants don’t ...
Revealing the molecular structures of sugars using galectin-10 protein crystals
2025-10-30
A quick, purification-free method was developed by researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo, to capture the detailed 3D structures of flexible sugar molecules. By growing crystals of galectin-10 protein using a cell-free crystallization process and soaking them in sugar solution, the researchers were able to trap and analyze the molecular arrangement of sugars and their interactions with the protein. This offers a powerful tool to accelerate research in drug discovery and molecular biology.
Sugars, or saccharides, do much more than sweeten food. In living organisms, these molecules decorate the surfaces of cell and also act as vital messengers in processes such as infection control and tissue ...
World’s leading medical journal details the climate emergency
2025-10-30
New global findings in the 2025 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change reveal that the continued overreliance on fossil fuels and failure to adapt to climate change continues to be paid in people’s lives, health, and livelihoods, with 13 of 20 indictors tracking health threats now reaching unprecedented levels.
The University of Sydney’s Heat and Health Research Centre contributed to the global report of the Countdown, which is published annually by The Lancet, the world’s leading medical ...
GLP-1 drugs effective for weight loss, but more independent studies needed
2025-10-30
Three new Cochrane reviews find evidence that GLP-1 drugs result in clinically meaningful weight loss, but industry-funded studies raise questions. The reviews were commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) to inform upcoming guidelines on the use of these drugs to treat obesity.
The reviews, which examine the effects of three weight loss drugs known as GLP-1 receptor antagonists, have found that all three drugs result in clinically meaningful weight loss compared with placebo. However, evidence on longer-term ...
Researchers uncover previously unexplored details of mosquito’s specialized detection mechanisms
2025-10-30
It’s bound to happen at a summer picnic, a peaceful walk in the woods or simply sitting in your backyard… a mosquito targets your blood for its next meal. You’ve been bitten.
But how do mosquitoes find you?
Among several methods used to locate new hosts for blood sucking, mosquitoes feature a keen ability to detect carbon dioxide. As we breathe out, we emit CO2 into the air around us, which mosquitoes can sense. But how?
Scientists have been aware of the mosquito’s ability to detect our carbon dioxide expirations but the intricate underlying physiological structures enabling these capabilities largely have remained ...
Stem cell therapy linked to lower risk of heart failure after a heart attack
2025-10-30
Patients with weak heart function who receive stem cell therapy shortly after a heart attack are at lower risk of developing heart failure and related hospital stays compared with standard care, finds a clinical trial published by The BMJ today.
The researchers say the findings suggest this technique may be a valuable add-on procedure for this particular group of patients after a heart attack to prevent subsequent heart failure and reduce the risk of future adverse events.
Advances in heart attack ...