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Bioengineering
Special Issues
Anaerobic Biotechnologies for Energy and Resource Recovery from Waste
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Anaerobic Biotechnologies for Energy and Resource Recovery from Waste

A Special Issue of Bioengineering (ISSN 2306-5354) belonging to the section "Biochemical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 5700

Editors

Dr. Abid Hussain

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel by Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
Interests: anaerobic biotechnologies; biofuels; biochemicals; waste management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Kaushik Venkiteshwaran

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL 36688, USA
Interests: anaerobic digestion; biogas; resource recovery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global transition toward a circular and low-carbon economy has intensified the need for innovative technologies that convert waste streams into valuable products. Anaerobic biotechnologies offer a versatile platform for transforming a wide range of solid, liquid, and gaseous waste into energy carriers and renewable biochemicals. These processes—ranging from conventional anaerobic digestion to advanced bioelectrochemical systems, solid-state fermentation, and microbial electrosynthesis—are increasingly recognized as powerful tools for resource recovery, greenhouse gas mitigation, and sustainable waste management.

This Special Issue, “Anaerobic Biotechnologies for Energy and Resource Recovery from Waste,” invites high-quality research, reviews, case studies, and technological developments focused on microbial, biochemical, and reactor-level innovations. Submissions may explore any type of waste, including food and organic waste, biosolids, agricultural residues, industrial effluents, brewery/distillery waste, landfills, and emission-based (gaseous) streams such as CO2 and syngas.

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

  • Anaerobic digestion for biogas, biomethane, and biohydrogen production;
  • Bioelectrochemical enhancement of anaerobic processes (e.g., MEC, MES, and BEAD/BEAST);
  • Short-chain fatty acid and carboxylate production from waste;
  • Solid-state fermentation and high-solid digestion systems;
  • Optimization of microbial communities, genomics, and processes;
  • Treatment and valorization of brewery wastewater, food waste, agricultural waste, and mixed plastics;
  • Carbon capture and bioconversion of CO2 and industrial gases;
  • Process modelling, life-cycle assessment, and techno-economic analysis;
  • Pilot-scale and industrial case studies demonstrating circular-economy potential.

This Special Issue aims to highlight current advances, emerging challenges, and future opportunities for using anaerobic biotechnologies to recover energy, nutrients, and value-added products from diverse waste streams.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Abid Hussain
Dr. Kaushik Venkiteshwaran
Guest Editors

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Bioengineering 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 2700 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.

Keywords

  • anaerobic digestion
  • bioelectrochemical systems
  • solid-state fermentation
  • waste-to-energy conversion
  • resource recovery
  • biogas
  • SCFAs
  • microbial electrosynthesis
  • circular bioeconomy
  • organic waste valorization

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1785 KB  
Article
An Anaerobic Trickle-Bed Reactor Filled with Siporax™ as a Novel Approach for Biomethanation of Hydrogen and Carbon Dioxide
by Gert Hofstede, Arjan Kloekhorst, Janneke Krooneman, Kemal Koç, Kor Zwart, Folkert Faber, Jan-Peter Nap and Gert-Jan Euverink
Bioengineering 2026, 13(4), 382; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering13040382 - 26 Mar 2026
Viewed by 1622
Abstract
To broaden the application of biomethanation for energy storage and renewable integration, this study investigates the performance of a trickle-bed reactor (TBR) for hydrogen (H2) utilisation in biogas upgrading, using both pure Carbon dioxide (CO2) and biogas-derived CO2 [...] Read more.
To broaden the application of biomethanation for energy storage and renewable integration, this study investigates the performance of a trickle-bed reactor (TBR) for hydrogen (H2) utilisation in biogas upgrading, using both pure Carbon dioxide (CO2) and biogas-derived CO2 as substrates for methane (CH4) production. Renewable sources such as wind and solar are inherently variable, increasing the need for scalable storage solutions. Converting surplus electricity into H2 and CH4 via biological methanation offers an efficient and safer alternative to direct H2 storage. By reducing CO2 produced by biogas plants, methanogenic archaea produce CH4, enabling H2 valorisation and enhanced biogas yields. This study demonstrates that TBR technology can achieve CH4 formation rates up to 15 L-CH4/L-reactor/day under optimised conditions. Siporax carrier material supported dense biofilm formation and effective gas–liquid mass transfer, facilitating high conversion efficiency. The system showed operational robustness, with rapid recovery after prolonged idle periods and stable production rates of 10–12 L-CH4/L/day. Wastewater was used as a realistic medium to assess reactor performance under complex, variable conditions. Reactor design focused primarily on enhancing gas–liquid mass transfer and supporting sustained microbial activity through adequate nutrient supply, ensuring sufficient buffer capacity to maintain pH stability. These results demonstrate the potential of TBR-based systems for high-rate, stable biomethanation and highlight their applicability in future energy infrastructures for integrating H2 through decentralised biogas upgrading. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anaerobic Biotechnologies for Energy and Resource Recovery from Waste)
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19 pages, 1420 KB  
Article
Enhanced Anaerobic Digestion of Sewage Sludge Through the Integration of Thermal Hydrolysis and Bioelectrochemical Anaerobic Digestion
by Chao-Wen Wang, Kai Ling Yu, Cheng-Tang Pan, Cheng-Yuan Hung, Liang-Shan Lee and Boris Tartakovsky
Bioengineering 2026, 13(3), 311; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering13030311 - 8 Mar 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2004
Abstract
Thermal hydrolysis pretreatment (THP) increases the solubilization of sewage sludge, while bioelectrochemically assisted anaerobic digestion (BEAD) enhances the conversion of the solubilized organic matter into methane and improves reactor stability in the presence of inhibitory compounds. In this study, by mapping methane production [...] Read more.
Thermal hydrolysis pretreatment (THP) increases the solubilization of sewage sludge, while bioelectrochemically assisted anaerobic digestion (BEAD) enhances the conversion of the solubilized organic matter into methane and improves reactor stability in the presence of inhibitory compounds. In this study, by mapping methane production in a BEAD reactor against the soluble organic loading rate (sOLR), determined from soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) measurements, distinct operational regimes corresponding to different THP temperatures were identified. With the 120 °C pretreated feedstock, the BEAD reactor operated in a hydrolysis-limited regime, where increasing sOLR increased methane production but reduced conversion efficiency. Accordingly, at an sOLR of 4.5 g (LR d)−1, a volumetric methane production rate of 0.8 L LR−1 was achieved. Increasing THP severity to 150 °C improved solids solubilization and shifted the system into a kinetically enhanced regime, in which methane production was directly proportional to sOLR, indicating improved substrate accessibility and reaction kinetics. Consequently, at an sOLR of 7.75 g (LR d)−1, methane production reached 1.46 L LR−1. This regime-based analysis provides quantitative guidance for selecting pretreatment severity and loading strategies to maximize methane production, while maintaining stable BEAD reactor operation at high organic loads. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anaerobic Biotechnologies for Energy and Resource Recovery from Waste)
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17 pages, 1091 KB  
Article
High-Rate Bioelectrochemical Anaerobic Digester for Biomethane Production from Food Waste
by Virender Singh, Abid Hussain, Banu Örmeci, Julien Pauzé-Foixet, Emmanuel Nwanebu, Hongbo Li and Boris Tartakovsky
Bioengineering 2026, 13(1), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering13010031 - 27 Dec 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1554
Abstract
This study investigated methane (CH4) production in a bioelectrochemically enhanced anaerobic digester (BEAD) equipped with a pair of 3-dimensional flow-through electrodes made of conductive polypropylene biorings. The performance of the BEAD reactor was compared to that of a similarly sized Anaerobic [...] Read more.
This study investigated methane (CH4) production in a bioelectrochemically enhanced anaerobic digester (BEAD) equipped with a pair of 3-dimensional flow-through electrodes made of conductive polypropylene biorings. The performance of the BEAD reactor was compared to that of a similarly sized Anaerobic Upflow Sludge Bed (UASB) reactor. The reactors were operated at a temperature of 22 ± 1 °C using food waste (FW) leachate fed at organic loading rates of 3–8 g (LR d)−1 or at a temperature of 35 ± 1 °C using the liquid fraction of FW separated using a screw press. With both tested feedstocks, the BEAD reactor demonstrated up to 30% higher CH4 yield, reaching 0.35–0.38 L g−1 (COD consumed), compared to the UASB reactor. Additionally, reactor stability under organic overload conditions improved, with the difference more pronounced at organic loads above 6 g (LR d)−1. Energy consumption for bioelectrochemical CH4 production was estimated at 5.1–12.4 Wh L−1 (of CH4 produced), which is significantly below the energy consumption for electrochemical H2-based methanation. Overall, BEAD increases methane production and improves process stability, offering a novel sustainable solution for waste management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anaerobic Biotechnologies for Energy and Resource Recovery from Waste)
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