Advances in Biomass Conversion, Biofuels and Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development

Dear Colleagues,

Because of the worldwide move for greener, reduced-carbon power production frameworks, biomass has become a central pillar of any sustainable future. Excessive reliance on fossil fuels continues to be a major governance challenge that creates massive environmental and socioeconomic problems. The need to devise economical and effective sustainable development technologies for the conversion of biomass into usable fuels will only continue to grow. Thermochemical, physical, and biological processes allow for the conversion of many types of farm waste, organic materials, and certain kinds of modern waste into lucrative fluid, gas, or strong biofuel.

Although a lot of scientific advancements have been achieved, crucial problems such as feedstock pretreatment, the entire conversion efficiency and the system optimization, sustainability throughout the entire life cycle and commercial feasibility need to be addressed. Multidisciplinary solutions are required to address the above-mentioned challenges by combining up-to-date catalyst systems, optimal drying kinetics and pretreatment kinetics, new reactor design and complete techno-economic analysis. Comprehensive characterization of these processes through the combined power of smart computational tools (AI/ML/DT) and holistic sustainability frameworks (TEA/LCA) has been identified as a necessary requirement to promote the circular bioeconomy and net-zero carbon dioxide emissions all over the world.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to share and promote the latest work being carried out in biomass conversion techniques, biofuel production and sustainable bioenergy. We solicit authors to publish their original research and review papers on new processing pathways, system modelling and life cycle assessment of bioenergy processes.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to:

• Advanced thermochemical conversion processes (pyrolysis, gasification, combustion, hydrothermal liquefaction) for bioenergy and biofuel production coupled with advanced process control.
• Biochemical, enzymatic, and anaerobic digestion pathways for biofuels and biohydrogen supported by predictive kinetic modelling.
• Synthesis and upgrading technologies for liquid and gaseous biofuels (e.g., biodiesel, bioethanol, biomethane, biohydrogen, Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs)). 
• Comprehensive techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) of bioenergy systems, biorefineries, and circular carbon ecosystems.
• Valorisation of agro-industrial and forestry residues into solid bio-briquettes, pellets, and drop-in biofuels. 
• Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms for real-time process monitoring, intelligent fault detection, parameter optimization, and yield prediction in bioenergy systems.
• Digital Twin (DT) architectures, cyber–physical modelling, and virtual simulation for the design, scaling, and real-time control of biomass conversion plants.
• Data-driven modelling, smart sensing, and AI-assisted supply chain optimization, feedstock quality assessment, and logistics in biomass-to-energy pathways.
• Hybrid approaches integrating AI, ML, TEA, and LCA for strategic decision-making in sustainable energy transitions and carbon-negative pathways.
• Policy frameworks for sustainable biomass energy deployment and carbon-negative bioenergy deployment strategies. 

Although this Special Issue covers interdisciplinary research, the core focus of all submissions must remain within the field of energy.

Dr. Kabas Onder
Guest Editor

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. 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.

• biomass conversion
• biofuels and bioenergy
• artificial intelligence
• machine learning
• precision agriculture
• digital farming
• process and supply chain optimization
• circular bioeconomy
• smart sensing and IoT
• thermochemical and biochemical pathways
• techno‑economic and life cycle assessment
• feedstock characterization and pretreatment