My research career has been mainly focused on the reduction of pollutant emissions. These investigations covered sulfur dioxide and nitric oxides released from power plants, as well as the minimization of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere by different carbon capture technologies that include oxycombustion and swing adsorption processes such as PSA, TSA, and combinations, PTSA, VTSA. At the same time, the co-utilization of coal and biomass was also a must and, in the last years, biomass has fully covered my research efforts. When one takes into account both terms, biomass utilization and carbon capture, the concept of negative emissions of CO2 come about and it is becoming clear that both biomass and carbon capture will have to play an important role in the objective of reducing carbon emissions to the point of zero in 2050. Moreover, the aim should be to remove additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, direct air capture, beyond the net zero. In this regard, my current research interests are directed towards processes that involve the utilization of biomass mainly in reforming and gasification processes, the production of green hydrogen from biomass, and the capture of CO2 by adsorption with solid sorbents. An example of these research areas is my investigation into the sorption enhanced steam reforming (and gasification) of biogas, bio-oil, and solid biomass for the production of hydrogen. This also involves a CO2 capture step in the whole process.

Since the first issue of Energies showed just five articles, the efforts and improvements that have been implemented have been enormous. This is now reflected in the last issue, July 2021, with more than 350 articles. In this regard, it is fair to acknowledge the great work that has been done and continues to be done by both editors and reviewers. If the journal wants not only to maintain but to increase its quality, it must, first of all, take care of its reviewers and editors. The “Bio-Energy” section should contribute to maintaining and improving the impact of the journal. Energies is currently in the first quartile of the CiteScore in “Control and Optimization”. Even so, one of the main objectives that we must aim for is to place the magazine among the most cited in its category.

As far as I know, the articles published in Energies come from a vast variety of countries worldwide. It will be difficult to extend this appeal to more countries. The first thing will be to achieve a greater impact of the journal that makes it more attractive so that scientists want to publish their most recent and most outstanding results. Additionally, it will be necessary to increase the publicity of the advantages of publishing in Energies, among which are a quick evaluation process and its open access model that enables everyone to access the articles.

When I review an article, I do not look at its length. I stray from wordy and cumbersome articles. A direct introduction with adequate references to the subject already gives an idea of the quality that you can expect from the paper. Furthermore, not only the text but also the tables and figures should clarify the ideas behind the article. The most important thing, nonetheless, is to find a sound discussion of the results. All this together already gives a first view of the quality of an article. Finally, it is important to find reviewers who are experts on the subject and who can provide suggestions to the authors in order to improve or clarify some aspects of the article.