Sustainable Cropping Systems and Biomasses for Energy and Biorefinery Applications—2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

As the global population rises against a backdrop of diminishing land resources, the “food vs. fuel” debate remains a central challenge for social stability and food security. To address this, we must develop site-specific agronomic strategies and socio-ecologically robust approaches that ensure a continuous biomass supply without compromising nature conservation or primary food production.

This Second Volume builds upon the success of our first edition by placing a sharper focus on the primary production level. We seek to explore how marginal, contaminated, or derelict lands can be transformed into productive assets for the bioeconomy. Central to this mission is the promotion of biodiversity and the mitigation of indirect land-use changes (iLUC), ensuring that biomass production remains within planetary boundaries.

A holistic approach is essential to unlock the potential of these landscapes while sustaining soil productivity. Key strategies include (i) the deployment of resilient biomass plants, (ii) innovative cropping systems such as intercropping and diverse rotations, and (iii) resource-efficient soil management. Furthermore, we emphasize the triple bottom line of sustainability, evaluating the environmental, economic, and social viability of these systems to ensure they offer genuine decarbonization pathways through smart bioenergy and biorefinery value chains.

Scope and Research Areas

We welcome original research, reviews, and case studies that link agronomic management with biomass quality and downstream conversion efficiency. Contributions must demonstrate a clear connection to agronomy.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to the following:

• Sustainable Soil Management: Soil amelioration, conservation tillage, and the use of recycling-derived fertilizers to enhance fertility and carbon sequestration in biomass systems.
• Advanced Cropping Systems: Agronomic performance of novel energy crops and perennial species, specifically within the context of intercropping and crop rotations.
• G×E×M Interactions: Evaluating how genotype × environment × management affects soil health, plant composition, and the subsequent suitability of biomass for specific conversion pathways.
• Marginal Land Valorization: Socio-economic and environmental assessments of producing biomass on marginal or degraded soils, including impacts on biodiversity.
• Biomass Quality for Conversion: Effects of harvest dates and cropping intensity on the chemical/physical parameters required for thermochemical, biochemical, or biological conversion.
• Circular Bioeconomy: Field-scale studies on waste-stream integration and decentralized biorefinery concepts that prioritize nutrient recycling.
• Integrated Sustainability Assessments: Life-cycle assessments (LCA) and socio-economic evaluations of biomass-to-end-product chains (e.g., advanced biofuels, green hydrogen, or biopolymers), provided the study remains grounded in the primary production phase.

We particularly encourage field-based experimental studies that provide actionable insights for a sustainable and climate-neutral bioeconomy.

Dr. Nicolai David Jablonowski
Dr. Moritz von Cossel
Dr. Yasir Iqbal
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Agronomy 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.

• residue/waste/recycling-derived fertilizers
• soil improvement and soil conditioners (e.g., biochars, algae biomass, other organic residues)
• waste-stream-based, multi-product and/or decentralized and/or modular biorefinery concepts
• alternative crops and agronomic approaches
• biodiversity and ecologically robust agronomic practices
• nutrient recycling and alternative fertilizers
• marginal soils and soil amelioration
• biogenic fuels and biogas
• biogenic residues
• biogenic products and platform chemicals
• thermochemical conversion of biomass
• biomass to liquid (BtL) and bio-based polymers
• bio-oils production via Fischer–Tropsch synthesis