Special Issue "Energy Sustainability after Global Fossil Energy Depletion"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. David Pimentel
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
E-Mail: dp18@cornell.edu
Phone: +1 607 255 2212
Fax: +1 607 255 0939
Interests: basic population ecology; genetics; ecological and economic aspects of pest control; biological control; energy use and conservation; genetic engineering; sustainable agriculture; soil and water conservation; natural resource management and environment

Dear Colleagues,

Several energy specialists project that the world will deplete oil resources by 2040 or about 30 years from now. Natural gas and coal will be depleted later or about 2100. After the fossil energy resources are depleted, humans will have to rely on solar energy technologies, these include hydropower, biomass, photovoltaics, solar thermal, geothermal, algae oil, solar ponds, biogas, and parabolic troughs. All of these solar energy technologies require land to collect solar energy then convert it into various forms of energy. The land requirement to produce one half of the energy now used in the U.S. and Canada will require an estimated 20% of the land. Of course, no use of cropland is planned because cropland is essential for food production. Transportation of goods and people will have to rely on trains and ships – no aircraft and few automobiles. Homes will be smaller with heavy insulation and heating these homes will be difficult. In the northeastern and Midwestern U.S. biomass will be the prime heating source. In the West and South, electricity will be the prime source of heat. Agricultural production will trend toward organic farming that could reduce the energy inputs by about 50% for many crops.

Prof. Dr. David Pimentel
Guest Editor

Submission

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. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as 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 refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed Open Access monthly 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 800 CHF (Swiss Francs).

• fossil energy
• solar energy
• biomass energy
• cropland
• geothermal energy
• food production
• transportation
• residential and commercial heating
• organic farming