Balancing Energy and Environmental Sustainability: Innovations, Impacts, and Pathways

Dear Colleagues,

The world stands at a crossroads where our choices profoundly impact the planet's future. Climate change, driven by human activities, has led to more frequent and severe weather events, disrupted ecosystems, and rising sea levels. Simultaneously, biodiversity loss, deforestation, and pollution are undermining the Earth's natural resilience. Amid these challenges, the quest for sustainable energy sources and practices has emerged as a linchpin in our efforts to mitigate and adapt to these environmental crises. In this context, this Special Issue aspires to delve deep into the confluence of energy and environmental sustainability, offering a fresh perspective through the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) prism. By adopting the life cycle perspective, we can unearth hidden trade-offs, uncover sustainable alternatives, and chart a course toward a more resilient and ecologically harmonious future.

We warmly invite researchers, academics, and practitioners from a wide spectrum of fields, encompassing qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, and modeling approaches to engage in a dialogue that transcends disciplinary boundaries. We invite you to share your expertise, findings, and innovative ideas in this Special Issue, where your work will reach a global audience of researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals.

The Special Issue will seek papers that examine applications, impact, and implications of multi-disciplinary approaches that explore the dynamic relationship between energy and environmental sustainability, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Renewable Energy Technologies;
• Solar and Wind energy;
• Hydrogen systems;
• Waste-to-Energy;
• Bioenergy and Biomass ;
• Bioenergy Feedstocks ;
• Thermochemical conversion;
• Biofuels for Transportation;
• Energy Efficiency Measures;
• Energy Storage Systems and Batteries;
• Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS);
• Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Systems;
• Socioeconomic Aspects in the LCA of Energy Systems;
• Policy and Regulation.

Together, we can illuminate pathways toward cleaner energy production, resource-efficient consumption, and a regenerative relationship with our environment.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Energies.

Dr. Tamíris Da Costa
Prof. Dr. Nick Holden
Dr. Daniele Costa
Prof. Dr. Mateus Guimarães da Silva
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. Environments is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 1800 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.