Renewable Energy for Sustainable Transports: The Potential of the Electricity and Hydrogen

Dear Colleagues,

In the coming years, the transport sector is expected to stop relying on fossil-based fuels, promoting the direct use of both electricity and hydrogen. In the transition towards a sustainable transport sector, not only are hydrogen and synthetic fuels from carbon capture and utilization (CCU) expected to replace the conventional fossil liquid fuels, but also advanced biofuels will play a crucial role. While shifting towards electric powertrains is easier for small vehicles (road transport), hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation, maritime and heavy-duty vehicles will continue to require liquid fuels due to technological barriers.

As these sectors will still rely on liquid fuels for some decades, the feedstock used for their production will have to respect an increasingly rigid sustainability framework, to effectively contribute to decarbonization. The concept of sustainability does not only cover bio-based feedstock; hydrogen shall also be produced with specific criteria of time correlation and additionality, to be labelled as renewable. As regards biomass sources, aspects related to greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential, indirect land‐use change (ILUC), biodiversity preservation, carbon stock depletion, competition with food and feed markets, and many others shall be considered to ensure long-term sustainability. In contrast, for biowastes, non-food crops, industrial organic wastes, and agricultural and forest residues, the GHG emissions savings shall be evaluated considering the traditional scenario for their disposal. Finally, when electrification is possible, aspects related to battery construction and material disposal and recycling should be taken into account.

This Special Issue aims to address the challenge of producing and using renewable energy in a sustainable manner, ranging from modelling exercises to experimental activities proving the effective use of innovative solutions. Also, LCA studies focusing on renewable energy solutions for powertrains are welcome. This Special Issue is open to contributions from researchers, students, experts, industries, and any relevant stakeholders that are willing to be an active part for decarbonizing the transport sector.

Dr. Matteo Prussi
Dr. Marco Buffi
Guest Editors

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• renewable energy
• renewable electricity
• biofuels
• alternative fuels
• advanced biofuels
• feedstock
• GHG saving
• transport sector
• aviation
• maritime
• sustainability
• LCA
• ILUC
• GWP
• RCF
• RFNBO
• Power-to-X
• batteries