Research on Conversion for Utilization of the Biogas and Natural Gas
A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A4: Bio-Energy".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 April 2026 | Viewed by 21
Special Issue Editors
Interests: biogas; catalyze
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Biogas and natural gas are frequently invoked as cornerstones of the transition to low-carbon, circular energy systems, yet their genuine promise—an abundant, dispatchable, and carbon-mitigating complement to renewables—will remain locked underground and inside anaerobic digesters unless we master conversion technologies that are simultaneously hyper-efficient, intrinsically scalable, and demonstrably benign to air, water, soil, and climate. This Special Issue, “Research on Conversion for Utilization of the Biogas and Natural Gas,” is therefore conceived as a forward-looking forum that curates, connects, and amplifies the most disruptive advances in fundamental science, reactor engineering, process integration, and sustainability assessment required to transform these gaseous feedstocks into higher-value energy vectors (drop-in e-fuels, hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, DME, FT liquids), versatile platform chemicals (olefins, aromatics, oxygenates), or grid-ready fuels that can be stored, transported, and dispatched within existing and future energy infrastructures.
By consolidating multidisciplinary insights—from catalysis and reaction engineering to life-cycle assessment, digital optimization, and policy analysis—this Special Issue aims to accelerate the commercialization of next-generation conversion processes. These processes must not only enhance energy security and diversify regional fuel portfolios, but also deliver measurable mitigation of greenhouse-gas emissions and promote the sustainable, closed-loop utilization of both biogenic and fossil gas resources. We invite contributions that interrogate the full innovation chain: fundamental surface-science discoveries, bench-scale proof-of-concepts, pilot-plant demonstrations, techno-economic and environmental feasibility studies, as well as market-deployment strategies that can shepherd emerging technologies from laboratory curiosity to societal reality.
Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Biogas upgrading and purification technologies (e.g., membrane separation, water scrubbing, PSA, chemical absorption)
- Catalytic and biological methanation of CO2-/CO-rich gases to synthetic natural gas (SNG)
- Advanced reforming, partial oxidation and dry/steam reforming of biogas/NG to syngas or hydrogen
- Conversion of biogas/NG to liquid fuels, methanol, dimethyl ether or higher alcohols via Fischer–Tropsch or oxygenate routes
- Techno-economic assessment (TEA) and life-cycle analysis (LCA) of biogas/NG valorization chains
- Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) coupled with gas conversion units
- Novel catalyst development (Ni, Ru, Co, Mo, zeolite, perovskite, MOF) for methane/CO2 activation
- Operando characterization
Prof. Dr. Xiaoguang Guo
Dr. Xin Huang
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- biomass conversion
- methane conversion
- carbon capture and utilization
- heterogeneous catalysis
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