Water–Food–Energy Nexus for a Sustainable Use and Management of Natural Resources, Byproducts and Wastes in Agri-Food Systems, 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

We invite submissions to a Special Issue of the journal Energies on the highly relevant topic of the water–food–energy nexus. The production and use of energy accounts for more than 75% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions; therefore, further decarbonizing the energy system is fundamental for reaching the climate targets set for 2030 and 2050. Furthermore, agri-food systems today cause air, water and soil pollution, contribute to the loss of biodiversity and to climate change, challenge animal welfare, and consume excessive amounts of natural resources (i.e., water and energy). In this context, renewable sources such as of agro-industrial byproducts and organic wastes play a central role as demonstrated by the quantification of their overall production and the increasing public recognition of reducing, reusing, and recycling byproducts and wastes. Scientific projections show that food, energy, and water consumption will significantly increase by the mid-21st century, so understanding the interrelationships between these components is urgently needed for a sustainable development of agricultural production systems. The concept of the water–food–energy (WFE) nexus has been introduced and promoted for achieving water, food, and energy security in a sustainable way. The aim of this Special issue is at facilitating development of a nexus approach towards bio-based economy by sharing the latest research and development in WFE nexus solutions.

Prof. Dr. Wei Liao
Prof. Dr. Attilio Toscano
Dr. Francesca Valenti
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.