Wood-Based Bioenergy and Byproducts

Dear Colleagues,

We invite submissions to a Special Issue of the journal Energies on the topic “Wood-Based Bioenergy and Byproducts”. In the past decades, interest in the use of renewable energies has significantly increased due to concerns surrounding climate change and rising energy costs. Bioenergy derived from wood is among the most important renewable energy options. Wood-based bioenergy is established on two main conversion routes: thermochemical and biochemical conversion. The first route is the biochemical process by which cellulose and hemicellulose in the wood are converted to ethanol, butanol, and platform chemicals; however, the fermentation process always leaves about 15–30% of the input biomass mass as unconverted lignin. Lignin poses either a potential disposal liability or a byproduct opportunity. Thermochemical conversion technology can be routed to gasification and pyrolysis processes. The gasification process generates syngas (CO + H₂) as its main product, while bio-oil is the preferred product of the pyrolysis process. Both gasification and pyrolysis processes produce biochar as their byproducts, about 10% of the feedstock mass is converted to biochar in the gasification process, and 20–30% of wood feedstock is left as solid char during the pyrolysis reaction. Many studies have been conducted on the utilization of lignin and biochar. Like other carbonaceous solid fuels, lignin and biochar can be sources for energy and fuels (e.g., the combustion/co-combustion of lignin/biochar for energy or pyrolysis, the hydrothermal liquefaction of lignin for bio-oils/liquid biofuels, or the gasification of lignin/char for syngas/hydrogen). Chemically, lignins are cross-linked phenolic polymers, which makes them a potential candidate for the production of aromatic chemicals (e.g., vanillin, phenols, and antioxidants) and bio-based phenolic polymers. Both lignin and biochar are carbon-rich materials; they have been used as precursors to produce carbon-based materials such as activated carbons, carbon nanotubes, carbon foams, and graphene nanosheets. These biomass-derived carbon materials can be utilized in energy storage devices (batteries and supercapacitors), and in energy conversion processes (catalysts). Thus, the valorization of lignin/biochar is also a subject of intense research in the field of energies. This Special Issue aims to address the new trends in the use of wood for bioenergy through thermochemical and biochemical conversion, specifically the utilization of bioenergy byproducts—lignin and biochar for chemicals, energy/fuels, and materials. Submissions can be full research articles, short communications, and reviews; the potential topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Issues related to the production of wood-based bioenergy through thermochemical or biochemical processes;
• Characterization of the lignin or biochar generated during the production of wood-based bioenergy;
• Pyrolysis or hydrothermal liquefaction of lignin for bio-oils/liquid biofuels;
• Gasification of lignin or biochar for syngas/hydrogen;
• Production of aromatic chemicals (e.g., vanillin, phenols, and antioxidants) from lignin;
• Synthesis of bio-based polymeric materials (e.g., resins and polymers) from lignin;
• Production of carbon-based materials (graphene, carbon foams, and activated carbon, etc.) from lignin or biochar for use in energy storage (batteries and supercapacitors) and energy conversion (catalysts).

Dr. Zhiyong Cai
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.

• wood gasification/pyrolysis/fermentation
• syngas/bio-oils/ethanol
• lignin
• biochars
• phenols
• bio-aromatic chemicals
• activated carbons
• graphene
• carbon foams
• batteries
• supercapacitors
• catalysts