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Energy from Waste: Towards Sustainable Development and Clean Future

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 4 September 2025 | Viewed by 5191

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Anna Grobelak

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Institute of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Infrastructure and Environment, Czestochowa University of Technology, 42-201 Czestochowa, Poland
Interests: bioremediation; biotechnology; environmental contaminants; organic waste management; soil organic carbon sequestration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Aneta Kowalska

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Ecotoxicology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa, 42-217 Czestochowa, Poland
Interests: soil carbon sequestration; soil remediation; mining; CO2 emissions; soils; environmental biotechnology; soil amendments
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the face of dynamically developing technology and changing climatic conditions, the world faces the challenge of transitioning to a circular economy that is based on sustainable resource management. The transformation of organic waste into valuable energy and material resources is of particular importance. Our daily activities must be consistent with a sustainable development strategy, where recovery and reuse are key elements.

The circular economy focuses on the optimal use of natural resources and the recycling and reuse of all materials derived from these resources. This knowledge comes from observations of natural biological processes. Adaptation to environmental and climatic conditions is a challenge for all societies.

In this era of modern energy, bioenergy and biorefinery technologies, advanced sewage treatment methods, modern plant cultivation, and animal breeding, it is necessary to develop environmentally friendly technologies that imitate natural biological cycles. Biodegradable waste from various human activities, such as municipal, industrial, food processing, and agriculture, must be treated as valuable sources of energy and matter.

This Special Issue aims to popularize and develop knowledge in the field of the circular economy, Waste-to-Energy (WtE) technologies, transitions in low-carbon technologies, and deepening our scientific and multidisciplinary knowledge. We want to focus on the most sustainable organic waste management strategies that mimic biological cycles and consider all their components and streams. A description of the state of the art in terms of legislation, characterization, ecotoxicology, waste management, and current methods used in various countries will allow us to present a holistic approach to organic waste management in accordance with the concept of a circular economy.

We invite you to submit original research articles, review articles, case studies, and analytical articles from various disciplines related to sustainable waste management systems and renewable energy sources that meet the requirements of closed loops in energy and matter cycles.

Dr. Anna Grobelak
Dr. Aneta Kowalska
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • circular economy
  • sustainable resource management
  • organic waste transformation
  • Waste-to-Energy (WtE)
  • biodegradable waste
  • bioenergy technologies
  • biorefinery processes
  • low-carbon technologies
  • renewable energy sources
  • advanced sewage treatment
  • recycling and reuse
  • natural biological cycles
  • waste management strategies
  • environmental adaptation
  • sustainable development
  • energy and matter recovery
  • legislation and policy in waste management

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 2985 KiB  
Article
Improving the Biomass Energy Yield of Cocksfoot Cultivated on Degraded Soil Amended with Organic–Mineral Fertilizer
by Urszula Wydro, Elżbieta Wołejko, Jolanta Joniec, Agata Bober and Mariola Chomczyńska
Energies 2025, 18(5), 1165; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18051165 - 27 Feb 2025
Viewed by 407
Abstract
The current difficult political and economic situation generates the need to seek new sources of energy, and the solution may be to increase biomass of energy crops through using organic–mineral wastes to improve soil quality. The research objectives were to determine the effect [...] Read more.
The current difficult political and economic situation generates the need to seek new sources of energy, and the solution may be to increase biomass of energy crops through using organic–mineral wastes to improve soil quality. The research objectives were to determine the effect of coal gangue (CG) and sewage sludge (SS) based organic–mineral fertilizer (OMF) application on cocksfoot growth and subsequently on biogas and methane production. First, a 6-week vegetation experiment was conducted where degraded soil (DS) taken from the edge of a sand mine in Rokitno was amended with OMF at 1% (DS + 1), 2%, 5%, and 10%. Cocksfoot was sown on such prepared soils. At the end of the first stage of the experiment, plant and soil samples were collected. In cocksfoot, dry shoot and root biomass were determined. The main soil properties and soil dehydrogenases, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), acid phosphatase (ACP), and protease (PROT) activities were analyzed. Next, an anaerobic fermentation experiment was conducted. In batch assay of digestion, cocksfoot collected from arable soil (CS) and from DS + 1% was used. Concerning the pot experiment, there was higher PROT in DS + 5% (by 133%) and DS + 10% (by 417%) compared to CS, and ALP in DS + 10% was higher by 19% than in CS. Shoot dry matter in OMF-amended DS was 107–297% higher than in CS. Among the fermentation experiment, the greatest differences (20–37%) in average daily biogas production between CS and DS + 1% were observed at 2–4 days but methane content in biogas in both variants was similar. Summarizing, fertilizer based on SS and CG can be a valuable substrate for degraded soil and increase in energy crops biomass. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy from Waste: Towards Sustainable Development and Clean Future)
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22 pages, 2387 KiB  
Article
Is Bigger Better? Exploring Sustainable Delivery Models for Multi-Scale East African Smart Biogas Systems
by Benjamin L. Robinson, Winfred Pemba, Viola Ninsiima, Gideon Muhindo, Admore Chiumia, Mike J. Clifford, Joseph Hewitt and Michel Muvule
Energies 2025, 18(5), 1045; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18051045 - 21 Feb 2025
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Abstract
With the deadline for the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the horizon, the global community is forging a pathway through the ever-more complex global ecosystem to 2030. Whilst household-scale AD systems have seen significant attention, the community and commercial scales [...] Read more.
With the deadline for the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the horizon, the global community is forging a pathway through the ever-more complex global ecosystem to 2030. Whilst household-scale AD systems have seen significant attention, the community and commercial scales remain significantly under-researched. This paper aims to explore the state-of-the-art in energy access, AD and smart metering, and presents three scales of AD system delivery models which can potentially unlock meaningful pathways to energy access and the completion of SDG7. We achieve this through a two-phase qualitative methodology: first, an in-person participatory market systems development workshop in Malawi, and second, by leveraging experts’ knowledge of the Uganda and Malawian biogas sector to develop the case studies that illustrate the three scales of the AD system delivery model. Our findings analyse these delivery models, exploring the disconnection between digester size and delivery model, overcoming delivery model weaknesses through blended approaches to energy access, the role of digitalisation, and the importance of tailoring the delivery models to specific contexts. Ultimately, by drawing on real-world examples of AD system delivery models, this paper concludes by proposing a novel entire ecosystems or systems approach to biogas implementation through the blending of different scales of implementation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy from Waste: Towards Sustainable Development and Clean Future)
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17 pages, 3478 KiB  
Article
Enzymatic Activity in the Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Cavitated Coffee Waste and Sewage Sludge
by Elżbieta Wołejko, Urszula Wydro, Aleksandra Szaja, Agnieszka Montusiewicz and Magdalena Lebiocka
Energies 2025, 18(1), 187; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18010187 - 4 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1157
Abstract
Hydrodynamic cavitation (HDC) as a pre-treatment method is innovative and has potential for wide-scale industrial applications. The novelty of this research involves evaluating the enzymatic activity in the anaerobic co-digestion (AcD) of hydrodynamically cavitated coffee waste (CW) and municipal sewage sludge (SS) as [...] Read more.
Hydrodynamic cavitation (HDC) as a pre-treatment method is innovative and has potential for wide-scale industrial applications. The novelty of this research involves evaluating the enzymatic activity in the anaerobic co-digestion (AcD) of hydrodynamically cavitated coffee waste (CW) and municipal sewage sludge (SS) as well as its influence on the AcD performance. The effectiveness of AcD was assessed on the basis of changes in the physico-chemical composition of the feedstock and digestate as well as the biogas/methane yield, and attention was paid to the effect of coffee waste on enzyme activity, including that of β-Glucosidases (β-Glu), protease (PR), urease (URE), phosphomonoesterases acid (ACP) and alkaline (ALP). Moreover, the changes in the heavy metal content after the AcD of CW and SS were investigated. Comparing the enzymatic activity of the feedstock and digestate, we observed that the URE, ACP and ALP activities were 4.5 to 11 times higher for the feedstock than the enzyme activities in the digestate. Moreover, when using CW cavitated for 30 min, the highest enzymatic activity in both the feedstock and digestate occurred. The results indicated that the relationship between the β-Glu activity and biogas yield showed the strongest positive correlation (r = 0.98 at p ≤ 0.05). At the same time, a positive correlation between the PAC, PAL, URE and PR activity and methane yield and methane content at p ≤ 0.05 was observed. The obtained results allow us to conclude that, in the future, such a digestate could be used as a bio-fertilizer to improve degraded soil to activate microbial populations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy from Waste: Towards Sustainable Development and Clean Future)
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15 pages, 2308 KiB  
Article
Energy Recovery from Municipal Sewage Sludge: Combustion Kinetics in a Varied Oxygen–Carbon Dioxide Atmosphere
by Jurand Bień and Beata Bień
Energies 2024, 17(21), 5382; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17215382 - 29 Oct 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 803
Abstract
Energy from municipal sewage sludge can be obtained by applying a thermal conversion method. In this study, the combustion kinetics of municipal sewage sludge were analyzed in an O2/CO2 atmosphere. Studies were conducted in different gaseous atmospheres consisting of varying [...] Read more.
Energy from municipal sewage sludge can be obtained by applying a thermal conversion method. In this study, the combustion kinetics of municipal sewage sludge were analyzed in an O2/CO2 atmosphere. Studies were conducted in different gaseous atmospheres consisting of varying proportions of oxygen and carbon dioxide. The participation of oxygen was as follows: 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% vol. The experimental temperatures varied from 873 to 1273 K. The experimentally obtained results helped establish the basic kinetic parameters, such as the reaction order n, factor Ko and activation energy Ea of sludge grains. The values of the activation energy Ea and Ko were, respectively, 46 kJ/mol and 0.0127 mg/m2sPa. They show that the limiting factor of combustion is the diffusion of oxygen and that combustion reactions take place in the outer layer of the unreacted core. Therefore, sludge is promising for energy recovery because it has quite a high net calorific value (NCV) and a high gross calorific value (GCV). The GCV was 14.1 MJ/kg and the NCV was 12.8 MJ/kg. The experimental studies with a wide range of process parameters helped to create an array of apparent reaction rates as a function of the temperature and oxygen concentration, showing the significant effect of oxygen on the apparent reaction rate, in contrast to the effect of temperature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy from Waste: Towards Sustainable Development and Clean Future)
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27 pages, 1437 KiB  
Review
Phytoremediation and Environmental Law: Harnessing Biomass and Microbes to Restore Soils and Advance Biofuel Innovation
by Aneta Kowalska and Robert Biczak
Energies 2025, 18(7), 1860; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18071860 - 7 Apr 2025
Viewed by 409
Abstract
Progressing soil degradation worldwide is a complex socio-environmental threat. Implementing environmental policies and actions such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the European Green Deal, and the Renewable Energy Directive III regarding environmental protection aims to protect, conserve, and enhance the EU’s natural capital, [...] Read more.
Progressing soil degradation worldwide is a complex socio-environmental threat. Implementing environmental policies and actions such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the European Green Deal, and the Renewable Energy Directive III regarding environmental protection aims to protect, conserve, and enhance the EU’s natural capital, focusing on soil protection. As assumed in the Green Deal, the European economy has to be turned into a resource-efficient and green economy with zero net emission of greenhouse gases. Since soil quality strongly influences all ecosystem elements, soil remediation is increasingly promoted as a sustainable option to enhance soil quality and, at the same time, help achieve overarching goals set out in European climate law. Biomass in phytoremediation is particularly important in regenerative agriculture, as it emphasizes improving soil quality, increasing biodiversity, and sequestering carbon. Selected plants and microbes can clean degraded agricultural areas, removing heavy metals and pesticides, thus lowering soil toxicity and improving food and feed security. Moreover, the post-phytoremediation biomass can be processed into biofuels or bioproducts, supporting the circular economy. This article summarizes the role of plants and microbial biomass in the struggle to achieve EU environmental goals, enabling the regeneration of degraded ecosystems while supporting sustainable development in agriculture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy from Waste: Towards Sustainable Development and Clean Future)
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