Processing, Production and Prospects of Biomass

Dear Colleagues,

As a renewable energy source derived from plants, animals or waste, biomass can be considered as an important and sustainable resource in many countries. From biomass, we can obtain biofuels that, in turn, could be converted to energy. Nevertheless, the production of biomass requires a large amount of land and water; its large-scale production will also cause damage to forests and soils. In addition, biomass production aimed at energy conversion can be seasonal, and its production is location dependent. Damage to the land provided by intensive biomass production will also affect the food supply, further causing food security problems and higher food prices. This is one motivation for which second- and third-generation biofuels are preferred to the first generation.

The negative social impact of biomass usage must be addressed to cater for real sustainable development. This demands higher-performance and cost-effective technologies. In addition, we need to efficiently implement concepts like reuse, recycle, valorization and circular economy.

This Special Issue aims to discuss the processing, production and prospects of biomass. We welcome research results from researchers including but not limited to:

• Technologies and processes for bio-energy conversion;
• Gasification, pyrolysis processes and hydrothermal carbonization of biomass;
• Bioethanol production;
• Catalysts and catalytic conversion of biomass;
• Bioreactors for bioenergy and biochemical production;
• Biomass residue reuse, waste valorization of biomass;
• Preparation, characterization and applications of biomass-derived carbon materials;
• Advanced techniques in metabolic engineering and bioprocess engineering;
• Impact of biomass production on agriculture, industry and the food sector;
• Environmental and climate impacts of biomass production.

Dr. Cataldo De Blasio
Guest Editor

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