Special Issue "Wood to Energy"
A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2012) | Viewed by 89233
Special Issue Editor

Interests: materials; chemicals and energy from forest biomass; organic chemistry of wood components; bio-refining of lignin; cellulose and nano-cellulose based smart materials; NMR spectroscopy and polymer chemistry of biopolymers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Without a doubt, our society’s concerns over increasing fuel prices, green house gas emissions, and the associated global warming have created a tremendous interest in the science and technologies that promise the sustainable production of energy from domestic resources. In this respect, lignocellulosic biomass (wood) has the unique ability to supply it because carbohydrates and lignin are among the most abundant organic compounds on the planet, representing a vast amount of biomass (in the range of hundreds of billions of tons). Our fossil carbon-based energy economy relies on distinctly hydrophobic hydrocarbon molecules that are devoid of oxygen and functional groups. In contrast to hydrocarbons, carbohydrates are highly functionalized and hydrophilic molecules. As such our chemical and energy industry needs to redevelop in a major way if it is to use lignocellulosic biomass as its feedstock. These considerations unambiguously dictate the need for practically oriented scientific research and development covering a wide range of applications for the use of Wood to Energy.
This special issue is focused at bringing together the global expertise from academia, government, and industry with the aim to disseminate their latest findings and to exchange their ideas for the future in the realm of “Wood to Energy”. The present issue will attempt to offer the reader a current view of the issue. Contributors should attempt to provide a good review of the literature, creating a sound foundation for the science to be subsequently developed. The editor anticipates that this issue will provide a resource for new ideas, guidance, and a good embarkation point for any future endeavors in the broad area that is defined by its title “Wood to Energy”.
Prof. Dr. Dimitris S. Argyropoulos
Guest Editor
Keywords
- Bioenergy
- Pre-treatment
- Novel Pre-treatment Methods
- Softwood versus Hardwood Digestibility Issues
- Cellulose
- Cellulase enzymes
- Cellulase inhibition
- Recalcitrance of wood
- Novel Methods of Analysis for wood
- Fermentation towards Bioethanol
- Byproduct Utilization
- Lignin Utilization