Asphalt binder is the most common material used in road construction. However, the need for more durable and safer pavements requires a better understanding of asphalt’s aging mechanisms and how its characteristics can be improved. The current challenge for the road industry is to use renewable materials (i.e., biomaterials not subjected to depletion) as a partial replacement for petroleum-based asphalt, which leads to reducing the carbon footprint. The most promising is to utilize biomaterials following the principles of sustainability in the modification of the asphalt binder. However, to understand whether the application of renewable materials represents a reliable and viable solution or just a research idea, this review covers various techniques for extracting bio-oil and preparing bio-modified asphalt binders, technical aspects including physical properties of different bio-oils, the impact of bio-oil addition on asphalt binder performance, and the compatibility of bio-oils with conventional binders. Key findings indicate that bio-oil can enhance modified asphalt binders’ low-temperature performance and aging resistance. However, the effect on high-temperature performance varies based on the bio-oil source and preparation method. The paper concludes that while bio-oils show promise as renewable modifiers for asphalt binders, further research is needed to optimize their use and fully understand their long-term performance implications.

Fatigue cracking and low-temperature cracking are two major distresses that occur in asphalt pavements. Fatigue cracking is a load-associated distress caused by the tensile stresses at the bottom/top of the asphalt concrete (AC) layer due to repeated traffic loading. On the other hand, low-temperature cracking occurs when tensile stresses built up with in the AC layer at low temperatures exceed the tensile strength of that layer. In this study, the performance of date seeds oil bio-modified asphalt binders (DSO-BMB) is evaluated against fatigue and low-temperature cracking. The DSO-BMBs are prepared using volume ratios of 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5% date seeds oil-to-asphalt binder. The base asphalt binder used in the study is a 60/70-penetration grade with a Superpave performance grade (PG) of PG 64–16. The dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) standard test was used to assess the fatigue performance of the bio-modified binders (BMBs), while the bending beam rheometer (BBR) test was used to test the BMBs for low-temperature performance. In addition, the DSR linear amplitude sweep (LAS) test was used to evaluate the fatigue tolerance behavior of the DSO-BMBs. The analysis and results of the study showed that the bio-oil enhanced the low-temperature performance. The low PG grade improved from −16 °C for the control asphalt binder to −28 °C for the BMB. Additionally, the fatigue resistance of the BMBs was improved as illustrated by the damage–characteristic curves of the modified asphalt binders from the visco-elastic continuum damage (VECD) analysis and the increase in the number of cycles to fatigue failure (N_f).