Life cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of jet fuel production and consumption in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

This paper aims to estimate the life cycle Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions associated with jet fuel production and consumption in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The system boundaries encompass the Well-To-Wake framework, which is further divided into Well-To-Tank and Tank-To-Wake activities. The Well-To-Tank includes crude oil extraction, transportation, jet fuel production, and distribution, while Tank-To-Wake accounts exclusively for aircraft operation. The results indicate that, under a base case scenario –where almost half of the co-extracted natural gas during oil extraction is utilized for on-site power generation– the mean Well-To-Wake GHG emissions of jet fuel production and consumption in the KSA amounts to 84.74 g CO2eq/MJ. This value is 4.79 % lower than the default emission factor for conventional jet fuel (89 g CO2eq/MJ), yet 5.79 % higher than the threshold established for Lower-Carbon Aviation Fuel (80.9 g CO2eq/MJ). Well-To-Tank activities contribute to 13.8 % of total emissions. By incorporating decarbonization measures in the Well-To-Tank activities, such as better managing co-extracted natural gas during oil extraction or including Carbon Capture Systems, GHG emissions could fall below 80.9 g CO2eq/MJ. On the other hand, Tank-To-Wake decarbonization options, such as selecting an appropriate aircraft type or managing the passenger load factor, could also reduce current emissions levels.