Wood Biorefinery: New Applications and New Products

Dear Colleagues,

The circular bioeconomy (CBE) represents an innovative paradigm for the production, distribution, and consumption of goods, emphasizing the prolonged retention of value within products, materials, and various resources. This model aims to minimize waste and enhance sustainability by promoting the continuous use and recycling of resources throughout their life cycles. Recent policy initiatives, such as the European Green Deal (EC, 2019), underscore the critical role anticipated for the circular bioeconomy within the future framework of the European Union, as well as its significance across individual member regions.

Central to the success of the circular bioeconomy is the biorefinery model, which facilitates the efficient conversion of biomass into a spectrum of high-value products and compounds. The implementation of productive cascade approaches is essential, as it allows for the extraction of multiple value-added products from a single biomass feedstock, thereby optimizing resource utilization and economic viability. To realize the full potential of these strategies, intensive research and development efforts must be directed towards enhancing biorefinery technologies and methodologies, fostering innovation in sustainable production processes, and ensuring their integration into existing economic frameworks.

The presence of alien species has become increasingly common due to globalization and the expansion–annexation of territories. These species must be eliminated to facilitate the expansion of native species. These species are a very good raw material for wood biorefineries.

These new biomasses, as well as more traditional waste and biomasses, can be transformed into new products or applied in new areas or formats. These studies would be very interesting to expand to the field of wood biorefinery. These raw materials and their byproducts could allow the following:

• Obtain lignin and manufacture anodes that allow obtaining renewable and sustainable batteries.
• Obtain valuable by-products from decarbonized wood.
• Obtain new polymeric materials derived from cellulose.
• Obtain new materials and applications of biochar, biooil, and biogas.
• Develop technologies to improve the durability of wood for construction.

The main objective of this Special Issue (SI) is to promote the use of any biomass or invasive species to carry out studies on the new valorization of products or to obtain novel products within the concept of wood biorefinery

Prof. Dr. María Ángeles Cancela Carral
Guest Editor

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• invasive species
• clean technology
• bioproduct
• biomaterial
• bioenergy
• biorefinery