The aviation industry plays a vital role in global commerce and transportation, but its heavy reliance on fossil fuels has significant environmental impacts. To address this, there is a growing interest in green fuels, which substantially reduce carbon emissions compared to traditional fossil fuels. Producing these renewable fuels on a large scale faces several challenges, such as the availability and sustainability of raw materials. Sources like agricultural and forestry waste, algae, and urban waste align with circular economy principles, but their consistent supply and high production costs are significant hurdles. Technological advancements, such as biocatalysts, and collaborations between public and private sectors are helping overcome these challenges. Political measures, including subsidies and carbon pricing, also support the development of biofuels. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of biofuels in the aviation industry by reviewing research from the past decade. Using data from the Web of Science (WoS) database, we conducted a bibliometric analysis with tools like CiteSpace and Microsoft Excel. From 2014 to June 2024, 719 scientific publications and 15,956 citations were analyzed. The United States emerged as the leading contributor, with 202 publications and 5100 citations. However, journals from the Netherlands had the highest impact factors, exceeding 11.0, and produced the most cited articles, highlighting the quality of their research. Our analysis also shows a growing research trend, with a notable increase in publications from 2014 to 2023, peaking at 125 publications and 3465 citations in 2023. This represents a 594% increase in publications and a 38,400% increase in citations. Although 2024 data only covers the year’s first half, it includes 46 articles and 1562 citations. These findings underscore the increasing momentum in biofuel research and the critical role of technological and policy support in advancing sustainable aviation fuels.
