India’s toxic crop waste could fuel global airlines, study finds

Every year, farmers in India burn millions of tonnes of stalks, husks and other plant matter left after each harvest, a practice that has long contributed to South Asia’s toxic winter smog. But that agricultural waste – known as crop residue – could instead become a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for airlines around the world, according to a new study. SAF is a low-carbon alternative to conventional jet fuel, blending aviation turbine fuel with sustainably sourced raw materials.

Combining biomass from crop residue with green hydrogen could allow India to produce SAF at costs up to 40 per cent below global benchmarks, according to a new report from think tank Energy Innovation and UC Berkeley’s India Energy and Climate Centre. “This is a rare opportunity to turn a domestic air-pollution challenge into a strategic clean-fuel export industry,” said Amol Phadke, faculty director of the India Energy and Climate Centre at UC Berkeley and one of the report’s co-authors. The report identifies three advantages that could help India become a major SAF supplier: some of the world’s cheapest solar power, a national drive to develop green hydrogen and an abundant supply of crop residue.

Green hydrogen, which is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity, is widely seen as a cornerstone of future clean energy. Under its National Green Hydrogen Mission, launched in 2023, India aims to capture 10 per cent of the global hydrogen market and produce 5 million tonnes annually by 2030. The report’s authors – Phadke, Dan Esposito, Vinaya Acharekar, Jose Dominguez Bennett and Deepak Rajagopal – said in written responses to This Week in Asia that South and Southeast Asian countries’ capacity to produce SAF would hinge on the availability of crop residue, as well as logistics and infrastructure.

Airlines in Europe, the UK, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific are increasingly having to contend with SAF mandates, but global supply still falls well short of demand, according to the report. That shortfall has created an export opportunity for countries able to produce the fuel cheaply and at scale. India generates roughly 685 million to 700 million tonnes of crop residue each year. Much of it is used for cattle feed, animal bedding and soil nutrients, but around a third – 210 million to 235 million tonnes – goes unused. Of that surplus, farmers burn some 130 million tonnes in open fields. Redirected towards SAF production, this surplus residue could meet what the report calls “robust demand” for the fuel. The authors argue that India’s crop residue supply could eventually support exports to SAF markets in the EU and UK, potentially reaching “cost parity with jet fuel from imported crude oil within the 2030s”. If India captured a quarter of the global SAF market, its exports could reach US$9 billion by 2030 and US$30 billion by 2040, the report estimates. Achieving that, however, would require India to build integrated projects combining renewable electricity, green hydrogen and biomass near major aviation hubs such as New Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, while aligning certification standards with European and UK export requirements. The report also points to the US-Iran war as a reminder of how exposed oil-importing economies are to volatile crude and jet fuel prices. In April, India said it would raise the share of sustainable fuel blended into jet fuel used for international flights to 1 per cent by 2027, 2 per cent by 2028 and 5 per cent by 2030. Mayur Patel, regional commercial and industry affairs leader for the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa at aviation analytics firm OAG, said India should extend its 5 per cent target to domestic flights and set further goals beyond 2030. He noted that the report’s estimated surplus of 210 million to 235 million tonnes of residue would be enough to meet India’s projected domestic aviation fuel needs through to 2050. But Patel cautioned against India “locking in export contracts” before its plants could reliably produce SAF from crop residue at the scale international buyers would demand. He identified EU and UK restrictions on fuel derived from food crops as one of the biggest hurdles to Indian exports, meaning producers would need to convince overseas customers of the sustainability credentials of SAF made partly from crop residue. He also called for financial incentives to encourage local companies to blend crop residue into SAF. Anjal Prakash, a professor of public policy at India’s Flame University, pointed to a further logistical challenge: building a reliable supply chain for crop residue, which is scattered across the country and subject to seasonal weather patterns. He said India would need to establish a network linking residue sources to SAF manufacturing clusters, which could then supply fuel to the country’s aviation hubs. (South China Morning Post)