Building Resilient Biomass Value Chains for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): Low-Carbon Growth in India: A Perspective

Building Resilient Biomass Value Chains for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): Low-Carbon Growth in India: A Perspective | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF conference-proceeding Building Resilient Biomass Value Chains for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): Low-Carbon Growth in India: A Perspective Mainak Mukherjee, Prashanth Kumar Sanjeevaiah This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8485626/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 22 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Interactions → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract India produces significant amounts of agricultural waste, such as straw from rice, bagasse from sugar cane, and stalks from cotton, which are often burned as waste or underutilized. However, these wastes may be integrated into organized biomass value chains in the rural areas, providing farmers with new income streams, reducing the amount of wasted resources on the environment, and supplying biorefineries with sustainable feedstock. The objective here is to understand how a more robust rural biomass value chain can be to support the techno-commercial and social viability of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production. Most research regarding SAF production in India has primarily focused on the technology used to produce SAF, as well as the carbon abatement potential of SAF. Little consideration has been given to how primary rural biomass value chains can support the scalability of SAF production as well as the participation of rural communities. This research uses a systems approach to understand biomass availability and value creation in order to identify methods to enable scalable SAF production in India. A geographically available biomass is mapped at the selected state level to identify feedstock clusters and how these can potentially be clusters for SAF’s integrated value chain. It is understood that the effectiveness of these rural value chains will depend on addressing seasonal residue variability, competing end uses, and logistical barriers that could disrupt continuous refinery operations. This can offer India a dual opportunity: (a) advancing aviation decarbonization while (b) stimulating rural economic development. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Rural Value Chains Biomass Supply and Logistics Systems Approach Decarbonization and Inclusive Growth Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 22 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Interactions → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8485626","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"conference-proceeding","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":570849027,"identity":"16ad0d8d-6f3f-4bee-af71-40c7686223f2","order_by":0,"name":"Mainak 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Perspective","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), Rural Value Chains, Biomass Supply and Logistics, Systems Approach, Decarbonization and Inclusive Growth","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8485626/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8485626/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eIndia produces significant amounts of agricultural waste, such as straw from rice, bagasse from sugar cane, and stalks from cotton, which are often burned as waste or underutilized. However, these wastes may be integrated into organized biomass value chains in the rural areas, providing farmers with new income streams, reducing the amount of wasted resources on the environment, and supplying biorefineries with sustainable feedstock. The objective here is to understand how a more robust rural biomass value chain can be to support the techno-commercial and social viability of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production. Most research regarding SAF production in India has primarily focused on the technology used to produce SAF, as well as the carbon abatement potential of SAF. Little consideration has been given to how primary rural biomass value chains can support the scalability of SAF production as well as the participation of rural communities. This research uses a systems approach to understand biomass availability and value creation in order to identify methods to enable scalable SAF production in India. A geographically available biomass is mapped at the selected state level to identify feedstock clusters and how these can potentially be clusters for SAF\u0026rsquo;s integrated value chain. It is understood that the effectiveness of these rural value chains will depend on addressing seasonal residue variability, competing end uses, and logistical barriers that could disrupt continuous refinery operations. This can offer India a dual opportunity: (a) advancing aviation decarbonization while (b) stimulating rural economic development.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Building Resilient Biomass Value Chains for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): Low-Carbon Growth in India: A Perspective","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-08 10:17:56","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8485626/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"789a99cf-170e-4929-ad11-a6b13fd0e914","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 8th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-23T16:09:50+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-8485626","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-026-02426-9","journal":{"identity":"interactions","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Interactions"},"publishedOn":"2026-03-23 00:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"March 23rd, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-08 10:17:56","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s10751-026-02426-9","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-026-02426-9","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8485626","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8485626","identity":"rs-8485626","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}