The Carbon Loop Challenge: Bridging Technical Barriers and Economic Viability in Alternative Fuel Synthesis

The transition toward climate-neutral economy has accelerated interest in sustainable carbon-based alternative fuels capable of replacing fossil resources. The main fuel families include conventional and advanced biofuels, Recycled Carbon Fuels (RCFs), and Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBOs). Despite their decarbonization potential, large-scale deployment faces major technological, socio-economic, environmental, and strategic challenges. Key barriers include feedstock availability and sustainability, renewable electricity demand, carbon sourcing, process efficiency, infrastructure adaptation, market competitiveness, regulatory uncertainty, and public acceptance. Furthermore, robust life-cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic assessment (TEA) are essential to quantify environmental benefits, identify trade-offs, and support evidence-based strategies for a resilient, circular, and net-zero carbon economy.The global energy sector faces an urgent need to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions while addressing the technical and economic barriers inherent in non-fossil fuel production. Current carbon-based fuel pathways, including biofuels, RCFs, and RFNBOs, often struggle with systemic viability due to energy-intensive conversion processes. To overcome these bottlenecks, this Research Topic focuses on advancing integrated Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) strategies as well as residues and waste-to-value approaches that valorize biogenic residues, by-products, and industrial emissions into high-value energy carriers. Achieving this requires rigorous techno-economic evaluations and life-cycle assessments to optimize supply chains and establish robust carbon accounting methodologies, defining efficient and sustainable pathways for a resilient circular carbon economy.The Research Topic focuses on alternative fuels, encompassing operational experience, performance metrics, techno-economic assessments, and cost scalability. Contributions are expected to address challenges related to CCU, production technology (process design, thermodynamics, kinetics, simulation, CFD, etc.), infrastructure compatibility, fuel distribution systems, and the integration of diverse fuel pathways into existing energy markets. Particular emphasis should be placed on comprehensive life-cycle assessments, socio-economic analyses, and integrated scenario modeling to support informed, evidence-based decision-making. The scope also includes comparative evaluations of emerging fuel options such as biofuels, synthetic fuels, hydrogen-based carriers, and carbon-derived alternatives. Original research articles, review papers, case studies, and perspective contributions are considered, provided they deliver novel insights, robust quantitative analyses, and adopt interdisciplinary approaches to advance sustainable fuel systems and their large-scale implementation. Topic editors: Antonio Conversano, Gaia Martoriello Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82503/the-carbon-loop-challenge-bridging-technical-barriers-and-economic-viability-in-alternative-fuel-synthesis