Paper Contents
Abstract
With the aviation industry looking to cut its carbon emissions and transition towards cleaner, sustainable fuel sources, waste cooking oil (WCO) biodiesel is one solution that seems to fit. The alternative fuel has a two-fold advantage of recycling waste oil and reducing greenhouse gas emissions substantially even when mixed with regular jet fuel. WCO as a feedstock for biodiesel promotes the circular economy, minimizes waste, and boosts energy security through fuel diversification. In addition, biodiesel blends can be utilized in existing aviation infrastructure to enable a seamless shift to cleaner aviation fuels. While promising, scalability, production, and optimization of blending ratios are among the challenges that need to be overcome for large-scale implementation. This article explores the sustainability of WCO-based biodiesel as an aviation fuel, both its environmental benefits and the challenges to its mass application. The prospect of biodiesel from waste cooking oil in the aviation sector is dependent on advances in technology, policy incentives, and a coordinated effort to surmount existing challenges, making it a central enabler of the long-term sustainability of the aviation sector. Keywords Sustainable aviation fuel, waste cooking oil, Transesterification, Blends, Biodiesel
Copyright
Copyright © 2025 Nithin G. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
