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Biomass and Biofuels 2019

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A4: Bio-Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2019) | Viewed by 6782

Special Issue Editor

Department of Paper and Bioprocess Engineering, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Interests: biorefineries; biofuels; bioenergy; bio-based materials and chemicals; nanocellulose; pulp and paper; pellets; forest and biomass resources; process development; novel bio-based products; cell wall deconstruction; hot water extraction; cellulosic bioproducts; improved fiber-based products; biomass productivity
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As an alternative source of renewable energy, biomass is expected to replace fossil fuels for heating and power generation. This Special Issue provides an overview for recent advances on biomass and biofuels technologies.

We would like to see articles in the intellectual space from raw materials (any form of biomass), to extraction and separation into components, to conversion of intermediates into final products. The products do not have to be biofuels if the products are renewable in origin and substitute for fossil fuel derived products. Engineering works applicable to any of the component operations are also appreciated.

We would also be interested in articles showing that more sophistication in product development could lead to greater returns. An example here might be furfural production from xylose as a more valuable product than fermentation of xylose to ethanol, as well as showing that this might be an energetically preferable way to produce furfural.

Prof Dr. Thomas E. Amidon
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biomass
  • biofuels
  • biorefinery
  • extraction
  • component separation
  • conversion
  • novel biobased products
  • biorefinery engineering
  • biomass and biorefinery policy
  • fossil fuel substitution

Published Papers (2 papers)

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14 pages, 2671 KiB  
Article
Use of Buckwheat Straw to Produce Ethyl Alcohol Using Ionic Liquids
by Małgorzata Smuga-Kogut, Leszek Bychto, Bartosz Walendzik, Judyta Cielecka-Piontek, Roman Marecik, Joanna Kobus-Cisowska, Katarzyna Grajek and Daria Szymanowska-Powałowska
Energies 2019, 12(10), 2014; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12102014 - 26 May 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3627
Abstract
Background: Common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) is an annual spring-emerging crop that is classified among the dicotyledons, due to the manner of its cultivation, use, and chemical composition of seeds. The use of buckwheat straw for energy purposes—for example, for the production [...] Read more.
Background: Common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) is an annual spring-emerging crop that is classified among the dicotyledons, due to the manner of its cultivation, use, and chemical composition of seeds. The use of buckwheat straw for energy purposes—for example, for the production of second generation bioethanol—might enable its wider application and increase the cost-effectiveness of tillage. Methods: In this study, we examined the usability of buckwheat straw for the production of bioethanol. We pretreated the raw material with ionic liquids and subsequently performed enzymatic hydrolysis and alcoholic fermentation. The obtained chemometric data were analyzed using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression model. PLS regression in combination with spectral analysis within the near-infrared (NIR) spectrum allowed for the rapid determination of the amount of cellulose in the raw material and also provided information on the changes taking place in its structure. Results: We obtained good results for the combination of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate as the ionic liquid and Cellic CTec2 as the enzymatic preparation for the pretreatment of buckwheat straw. The highest concentration of glucose following 72 h of enzymatic hydrolysis was found to be around 5.5 g/dm3. The highest concentration of ethanol (3.31 g/dm3) was obtained with the combination of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate for the pretreatment and cellulase from Trichoderma reesei for enzymatic hydrolysis. Conclusions: In summary, the efficiency of the fermentation process is strictly associated with the pool of available fermenting sugars, and it depends on the type of ionic liquid used during the pretreatment and on the enzymatic preparation. It is possible to obtain bioethanol from buckwheat straw using ionic liquid for pretreatment of the raw material prior to the enzymatic hydrolysis and alcoholic fermentation of the material. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass and Biofuels 2019)
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23 pages, 1730 KiB  
Article
An Analysis on Barriers to Biomass and Bioenergy Development in Rural China Using Intuitionistic Fuzzy Cognitive Map
by Linmao Ma, Jing Yu and Long Zhang
Energies 2019, 12(9), 1598; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12091598 - 26 Apr 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2620
Abstract
Biomass is viewed as one of the critical renewable energies and it widely exists in nature. Developing bioenergy has been promoted as a viable mean of dealing with environment issues that are related to the utilization of fossil fuel. However, due to many [...] Read more.
Biomass is viewed as one of the critical renewable energies and it widely exists in nature. Developing bioenergy has been promoted as a viable mean of dealing with environment issues that are related to the utilization of fossil fuel. However, due to many obstacles, the biomass and bioenergy technology has not won widespread support in developing countries, like China, with vast land area, particularly in rural area. Furthermore, most existing researches just focused on the description of the influence factors, along with the solution to the technical problems, while many social factors are overlooked. In fact, the process of developing biomass is indeed complicated due to the need for consensus and active participation of the various stakeholders, such as the government, the industry, and the local residents. Therefore, while integrating the intuitionistic fuzzy logic and fuzzy cognitive map, this study constructs an intuitionistic fuzzy cognitive map (IFCM) that is in line with experts’ suggestions and the current literature to investigate how to promote the development of biomass through enhancing public acceptance. We conduct several simulations from the perspective of different stakeholders, according to the IFCM. The analysis results reveal the influence mechanism in the system and illustrate the effect of various factors that are stressed by every stakeholder. The research design also provides a reference for future studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass and Biofuels 2019)
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