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Selected Papers from the 32nd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition (EUBCE 2024)

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 29 August 2025 | Viewed by 1443

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Former European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Petten, The Netherlands
Interests: biogas; bioenergy; bioliquids; heat and electricity; power; climate change; socio-economic impact
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Conference (EUBCE) has for many years been one of the world’s leading R&D conferences, and over the last decade, it has increasingly recognized the growing industrial achievements of the biomass sector and the continuing challenges facing policymakers across the world. The EUBCE has grown to become a leading platform for the collection, exchange, and dissemination of scientific knowledge in the field of biomass, as well as its utilisation in industry to replace fossil fuel-derived energy and products and in policy making to mitigate climate change.

The 32nd EUBCE, held in Marseille, France, in June 2024, addressed the key topic of building a circular economy by integrating biomass production, its conversion to bioliquids and biofuels for heat and electricity, and transport and bio-based products, covering all aspects of each value chain, ranging from supply and logistics to conversion technologies, from the industrial application of research results in industry to impacts on the environment, and from market and trade aspects to policy strategies, considering the role of biomass as a component of integrated energy systems.

Ambitious targets have been set over the last decade and a half at the political level across the world; at the same time, science and industry have been making substantial progress in the production and utilisation of biomass for conversion into a wide range of energy and non-energy products, aiming to replace equivalent energy and non-energy products derived from fossil fuels. The key aim is to achieve “net zero” by 2050, or sooner, to halt the steady increase in the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere, before reducing fossil fuel-derived emissions so that climate change impacts can be reduced. Biomass will play an important role in the clean energy transition, in line with the commitments made in the COP Paris Agreement.

This Special Issue of Energies contains papers presented and discussed at the 32nd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Conference (EUBCE). From the outset, this Special Issue’s aim has been to include papers representing all topics covered by the EUBCE, from biomass production, harvesting, storage, transport, and conversion into energy carriers, a range of bioproducts, and bioenergy to and recycling residues to ensure soil quality for growing future biomass crops, all within a growing and maturing circular economy that will play a key role in mitigating climate change.

Dr. David Baxter
Prof. Dr. Solange I. Mussatto
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • biomass feedstocks
  • agricultural residues
  • energy crops
  • short rotation crops
  • forest residues
  • organic waste
  • bioenergy
  • biomaterials
  • biochemicals
  • biorefineries
  • thermochemical conversion
  • biochemical conversion
  • energy carriers
  • biofuels
  • bioeconomy
  • circular economy
  • climate change
  • environmental sustainability
  • environmental impacts

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 51352 KiB  
Article
A Novel Methodology for Assessing the Electricity Generation Potential of Biomass Residues: A Case Study in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil
by Fernando Bruno Dovichi Filho, Electo Eduardo Silva Lora, Diego Mauricio Yepes Maya, José Carlos Escobar Palacio, Osvaldo Jose Venturini, Laura Vieira Maia de Sousa, Flavio Dias Mayer and Marcelo Risso Errera
Energies 2025, 18(9), 2321; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18092321 - 1 May 2025
Abstract
This study presents a methodology for assessing the technical and economic potential of electricity generation from biomass residues, using thermochemical conversion technologies. Applied in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, the analysis focuses on residues from corn, soybean, coffee, eucalyptus, and sugarcane. A [...] Read more.
This study presents a methodology for assessing the technical and economic potential of electricity generation from biomass residues, using thermochemical conversion technologies. Applied in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, the analysis focuses on residues from corn, soybean, coffee, eucalyptus, and sugarcane. A multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach, integrated with GIS, was used to identify the most viable biomass sources and most suitable conversion technologies, namely the Rankine cycle, organic Rankine cycle, and gasification with internal combustion engines, based on Technological Readiness Levels (TRLs). Eucalyptus emerged as the most suitable residue due to its high energy density, while sugarcane residues were the most abundant. The economic feasibility analysis indicates levelized costs ranging from USD 0.10 to USD 0.24 per kWh, with the conventional Rankine cycle emerging as the most cost-effective option for plants with a capacity exceeding 5 MWe. The proposed methodology supports strategic bioenergy planning by integrating geospatial, technological, and economic factors. Full article
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15 pages, 9135 KiB  
Article
Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL) of Lignin: The Adsorption Separation of Catechol Guaiacol and Phenol
by Emmanuel Bala, Ursel Hornung and Nicolaus Dahmen
Energies 2025, 18(9), 2181; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18092181 - 24 Apr 2025
Viewed by 132
Abstract
The complex nature of the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of lignin product downstream requires an effective separation strategy. In this study, the use of adsorption separation was undertaken using deep eutectic solvent (DES)-modified amberlite XAD-4 adsorbents to achieve this goal. XAD-4 was modified with [...] Read more.
The complex nature of the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of lignin product downstream requires an effective separation strategy. In this study, the use of adsorption separation was undertaken using deep eutectic solvent (DES)-modified amberlite XAD-4 adsorbents to achieve this goal. XAD-4 was modified with a choline chloride: ethylene glycol DES and characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) test. In addition, the HTL product was characterized using Gas Chromatography with Flame Ionization Detection (GC-FID). The performance of unmodified and DES-modified adsorbents was initially tested on the model compounds of guaiacol, phenol and catechol, followed by the HTL product in a batch adsorption system. The Freundlich model best described the model compound adsorption system with a preferential affinity for guaiacol (kf = 12.52), outperforming phenol and catechol. Adsorption experiments showed an increase in capacity and selectivity for all species when the DES-modified adsorbents were used at all mass loadings. GC-FID analytics showed the DES-modified XAD-4 (300 mg) as having the highest selectivity for guaiacol, with an equilibrium concentration of 121.45 mg/L representing an 85.25% uptake, while catechol was the least favorably adsorbed. These results demonstrate the potential of DES-functionalized XAD-4 adsorbents in selectively isolating high-value aromatics from the HTL of the lignin product stream. Full article
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8 pages, 1222 KiB  
Communication
Residual Lipids Pretreatment Towards Renewable Fuels
by Ioanna Kosma, Stella Bezergianni and Loukia P. Chrysikou
Energies 2025, 18(8), 2017; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18082017 - 14 Apr 2025
Viewed by 228
Abstract
The growing interest in environmentally friendly and sustainable energy sources has led to the exploration of waste cooking oils (WCOs) as residual feedstocks for biofuel production under the circular economy approach. Considering that WCOs constitute a highly heterogenous and degraded feedstock, a pretreatment [...] Read more.
The growing interest in environmentally friendly and sustainable energy sources has led to the exploration of waste cooking oils (WCOs) as residual feedstocks for biofuel production under the circular economy approach. Considering that WCOs constitute a highly heterogenous and degraded feedstock, a pretreatment step is necessary to improve their quality, potentially enabling their conversion to biofuels in milder conditions. Particularly, WCOs are characterized by high acidity, moisture content, impurities, etc., highlighting the necessity for a systematic and easily manageable pretreatment method. This study explored a systematic and widely applicable three-step pretreatment process (involving neutralization, washing, and drying) for improving the quality of degraded WCOs derived from various origins. The results showed that all monitored properties of the pretreated WCOs notably improved, even in the case of highly degraded lipids. Τherefore, the explored approach is particularly efficient for pretreating lipid-based feedstocks prior to converting them to biofuel production. Full article
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