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Biomass and Bio-Energy—3rd Edition
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Biomass and Bio-Energy—3rd Edition

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A4: Bio-Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 2987

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Carmen Otilia Rusǎnescu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnical Systems, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: waste management; environmental protection; environmental monitoring and evaluation in the context of climate change; biomass; biotechnology; renewable energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Nicoleta Ungureanu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnical Systems, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 006042 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: sustainable development; waste management; biomass; biogas; bio-energy; wastewater treatment; wastewater reuse; soil degradation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Energy is essential for the generation of industrial and social well-being. However, the production of energy from non-renewable sources has many negative consequences on the environment: greenhouse gas emissions, polluting particle emissions, waste generation, oil spills that degrade soils and groundwater, etc. Thus, the production and consumption of non-renewable energy contributes significantly to the climate changes we are currently facing, damages natural ecosystems and the anthropogenic environment, and can have adverse effects on human health. At the global level, it is important to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and ambitious objectives have been set and measures are already being taken in this regard.

Biomass contains stored chemical energy from the sun; it is an abundant, renewable and cheap resource. In addition, its adaptability to different environmental and growth conditions (agricultural lands, forest lands, marginal lands, natural watercourses, wastewater, and industrial facilities) is a remarkable feature. At the same time, biomass is an important source of food and raw materials for industry, and in order to respect the principles of sustainability, its use in these areas must also be balanced with its use for energy purposes.

Pretreated using appropriate methods and technologies, biomass can be converted into a wide range of biofuels for transport, bio-heat and bio-electricity. Currently, bioenergy is the fourth largest source of primary energy after oil, coal and natural gas. The ambitious Paris Agreement on climate change and the UN Sustainable Development Goals emphasize the energetic valorization of biomass, so the production and use of bioenergy is expected to increase in the near future.

Therefore, this Special Issue focuses on current biomass pretreatment methods and technologies for energy recovery, the current status and technologies for obtaining biofuels from biomass (including pellets, briquettes and tablets; pyrolysis products; syngas; biogas; biodiesel; bioethanol; biohydrogen; and biochitan), the recovery of heat from compost piles, the modeling and optimization of the technologies for energy recovery from biomass, biorefineries, and best practice models in the field of bioeconomy with an emphasis on the energy recovery from biomass waste. Both original scientific contributions (case studies, experiments or systematic comparisons with existing approaches) and reviews describing recent progress made in these topics and related fields are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Carmen Otilia Rusǎnescu
Dr. Nicoleta Ungureanu
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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies 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.

Keywords

  • residual biomass
  • agricultural residues
  • energy crops
  • biowaste
  • bioenergy potential
  • biofuels
  • biomass pretreatment technologies
  • biomass and biowaste valorization
  • conversion technologies
  • energy recovery
  • biorefinery
  • circular bioeconomy
  • biomass policies

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 2313 KB  
Article
Valorization of Poultry Litter Through Anaerobic Digestion in Small-Scale Farm Energy Systems: A Techno-Economic Case Study in Cameroon
by Francesco Baldi, Martina Santucci, Maria Elena Bini, Yanick Kenne, Simone Beozzo and Alessandra Bonoli
Energies 2026, 19(9), 2024; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19092024 - 22 Apr 2026
Viewed by 529
Abstract
Poultry litter represents a promising feedstock for biogas production through anaerobic digestion (AD), offering potential benefits for both on-farm energy supply and organic waste management. This opportunity is particularly relevant in resource-constrained countries, where limited access to reliable energy and inadequate waste management [...] Read more.
Poultry litter represents a promising feedstock for biogas production through anaerobic digestion (AD), offering potential benefits for both on-farm energy supply and organic waste management. This opportunity is particularly relevant in resource-constrained countries, where limited access to reliable energy and inadequate waste management remain critical challenges. This study investigates the integration of poultry litter-based biogas production into a decentralized energy system supplying a poultry farm and a nearby household in Yaoundé, Cameroon. A techno-economic optimization framework based on mixed-integer linear programming is used to determine the cost-optimal configuration of the energy system. The results show that anaerobic digesters are only selected when constraints on poultry litter disposal are introduced. Total annual system costs increase from approximately 2680 EUR·y−1 in the unconstrained scenario to 3720 EUR·y−1 when up to 50% of the poultry litter is valorized locally through AD. Increasing biogas production primarily substitutes liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used for heating and progressively reduces electricity purchases from the grid. Overall, the analysis indicates that anaerobic digestion is currently not economically competitive when evaluated solely on energy supply benefits, mainly due to the high capital cost of digesters. However, when waste management objectives or external investment support are considered, poultry litter-based biogas systems can contribute to integrated energy–waste management strategies and support circular resource use in small-scale agricultural systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass and Bio-Energy—3rd Edition)
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20 pages, 1118 KB  
Article
Evaluating Feedstock Pretreatment Methods to Unlock Co-Digestion in Small-Scale Biogas Systems: A Multi-Criteria Approach to System Integration and Decision Making
by Joshua Kiplagat Ngetuny, Tobias Baldauf and Wilfried Zörner
Energies 2026, 19(5), 1303; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19051303 - 5 Mar 2026
Viewed by 592
Abstract
Small-scale biogas plants in developing countries present a viable alternative to traditional polluting energy sources, particularly in rural and underserved communities. These systems typically rely on locally sourced livestock manure; however, inconsistent supply often results in underfeeding, reduced biogas production, and, in many [...] Read more.
Small-scale biogas plants in developing countries present a viable alternative to traditional polluting energy sources, particularly in rural and underserved communities. These systems typically rely on locally sourced livestock manure; however, inconsistent supply often results in underfeeding, reduced biogas production, and, in many cases, system abandonment. Co-digestion with crop residues presents a promising strategy to enhance feedstock availability and system resilience. However, the recalcitrant nature of lignocellulosic biomass and limited access to suitable pretreatment technologies have constrained its adoption. This paper evaluates feasible pretreatment methods for integrating crop residues, especially straw, into small-scale biogas systems. Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), pretreatment methods are assessed based on five criteria: (i) technology simplicity, (ii) energy requirements, (iii) capital and operational costs, (iv) effectiveness, and (v) environmental impact. The analysis identifies microbial pretreatment using the liquid fraction of digestate, combined with mechanical size reduction, as the most suitable approach for small-scale implementation, utilizing low-cost, simplified mechanical devices adaptable to various crop residues with minimal energy input. A conceptual design of a demonstration plant is proposed to validate this integrated pretreatment approach and assess its impact on biogas yield, system performance, and technology adoption. The design incorporates an on-site digestate separation unit to supply microbial inoculum and emphasizes simplicity and cost-effectiveness in material handling and energy use. Pilot trials are proposed to evaluate key performance indicators, including specific methane yield (LCH4/gVS added), volatile solids reduction (%), and methane content increase (%), ensuring evidence-based adoption and practical applicability of the design. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass and Bio-Energy—3rd Edition)
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20 pages, 2165 KB  
Article
Influence of Fluctuating Food Waste Concentrations on Horizontal Anaerobic Reactor Performance and Biogas Output
by Jovale Vincent Tongco, Sang Hyeok Park, Su In Kim and Seokhwan Hwang
Energies 2025, 18(19), 5064; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18195064 - 23 Sep 2025
Viewed by 1242
Abstract
Food waste (FW) sourced from treatment facilities is predominantly in solid form, with low water content and high variations in organic content. High organic content in FW is ideal in anaerobic digestion for bioenergy applications, but proper monitoring during start-up operations should be [...] Read more.
Food waste (FW) sourced from treatment facilities is predominantly in solid form, with low water content and high variations in organic content. High organic content in FW is ideal in anaerobic digestion for bioenergy applications, but proper monitoring during start-up operations should be employed to avoid imbalance in the acidogenic/methanogenic population due to volatile fatty acid (VFA) accumulation in the system. The seed inoculum (5 L) in each horizontal anaerobic reactor (HAR) was fed with food waste without effluent flow (filling-up phase) until it reached the final working volume of 10 L (continuous phase). The pH, alkalinity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), VFA, biogas production, methane concentration, and microbial community dynamics were set as stability indicators during reactor operation. The results revealed that introducing fluctuations in FW concentrations does not negatively affect the biogas production (1.7 ± 0.2 L/LR/d) and methane concentration (59.0 ± 2.5%). Acclimatization of the methanogenic and bacterial population was also observed. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of fluctuating FW concentrations on the process performance of horizontal anaerobic reactors, focusing on process stability, microbial dynamics, and biogas output during filling-up and continuous phases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass and Bio-Energy—3rd Edition)
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