Special Issue on “Bioenergy Systems, Material Management, and Sustainability”

The growing worldwide demand for energy and resources, combined with the stringent environmental challenges and regulations, means that the efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable use of energy and material sources, including bio-based, has become increasingly important. The development and implementation of novel technologies for the improved and diversified utilization and reuse of such primary sources can be accelerated using process systems engineering methods, such as process modeling, design, optimization, and control. This Special Issue of Processes includes novel process systems contributions and applications associated with bioenergy systems, material management, and sustainability.

This Special Issue, “Bioenergy Systems, Material Management, and Sustainability”, encompasses a combination of contributed articles by a diverse set of worldwide experts in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, focusing on a multitude of concepts and topics. The following topics, along with the manuscript contributions, are addressed in this issue: Bio-based materials and processes [1,2], bioenergy systems optimization, advanced control for sustainability and state estimation [3,4,5,6,7], sustainability, life cycle assessment, and life cycle inventory analyses associated with biosystems and biofuels [8,9,10], sustainable management and valorization of organic/biomass waste, including energy production [11,12], and techno-economic analysis of novel routes for the sustainable utilization and reuse of biomass and waste [13]. Such topics are of great interest and critical relevance to the sustainable development of local, regional, national, and international communities. Stakeholders in these communities include government, industry, academia, and decision-makers interested in optimizing the efficiency and sustainability of bioenergy systems and waste management valorization.

We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to all the authors who have contributed to making this Special Issue unique. We are also very thankful for the efforts from the reviewers who took their valuable time to help enhance the manuscript contributions, and the editorial office of Processes, especially the Managing Editors Ms. Jamie Li and Ms. Wency Xiang, for providing the platform to make this Special Issue possible. We sincerely hope the articles in this Special Issue will serve as a valuable source of information to assist different communities and societies in implementing sustainable energy and material management solutions in the future.