Special Issue "Improving Bioenergy Economics: Forest Residues for Energy and Supply Chain Modeling"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Tapio Ranta
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
LUT School of Energy Systems, LUT University, Mikkeli, 53850 Lappeenranta, Finland
Interests: biomass supply; logistics; management; sustainability
Dr. Mika Aalto
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
LUT School of Energy Systems, LUT University, Mikkeli, 53850 Lappeenranta, Finland
Interests: agent-based modeling and simulation; discrete-event simulation; biomass supply
Dr. Raghu KC
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
LUT School of Energy Systems, LUT University, Mikkeli, 53850 Lappeenranta, Finland
Interests: bioeconomy; bionergy and energy sustainability; environmental life cycle assessment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Bioenergy is the largest form of renewable energy worldwide, and 85% of the biomass that ends up for energy is forest energy. In modern bioenergy, biomass is used in district heating, electricity generation, and transport biofuels instead of traditional firewood burning. The importance of bioenergy will increase in all these sectors in the coming decades, as we are globally moving toward an emission-free energy system.

In addition to sustainability and availability constraints, the additional use of forest-based bioenergy has been slowed by a lack of cost competitiveness. Therefore, the supply costs of forest-based biomass need to be reduced, and the security of supply and fuel quality need to be improved. This is possible by developing forest chip supply technologies, business models, and logistical solutions. Resource efficiency throughout the biomass supply chain means lower impacts on the ecosystem and improvement in material efficiency, which can be described as “less is more”. In this way, a supply model with a lower environmental impact can also be more economically viable than before. This Special Issue seeks a comprehensive overview and in-depth technical research papers addressing the progress to improve the cost competitiveness of forest-based bioenergy and its role in increasing the use of bioenergy. It would be interesting to know the effectiveness of the measure under investigation compared to the existing situation.

Among the topics that could be addressed by potential authors are the following:

- Development of forest energy supply logistics using modeling tools;

- Reduction and assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from forest energy supply chains;

- Availability calculations of the regional forest energy resources and possibilities of increasing forest energy use;

- Development of energy wood storage methods and new supply chain alternatives;

- Development of methods for measuring the quality of forest fuels;

- Improving the quality of forest fuels;

- Improving the profitability of forest energy production and energy entrepreneurship;

- Clarifying the views and expectations of the population of the region toward wood-based bioenergy.

Original papers related to the above topics, including case studies, methodologies, applied developments, and the current state of emerging technologies in this field, are highly encouraged.

Prof. Dr. Tapio Ranta
Dr. Mika Aalto
Dr. Raghu KC
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 papers will be 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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Sustainability 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 1900 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.

Keywords

  • forest residues
  • supply chain
  • modelling, logistics
  • efficiency
  • economics
  • environmental impact

Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission, see below for planned papers.

Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Mapping of Mangrove Biomass Stock for Handling Climate Change (Case Study: Mangrove Forest on the Small Island of Osi, Eastern Indonesia)
Authors: Gun Mardiatmoko; Woody Andi Alen Timisela; Ferad Puturuhu
Affiliation: 1. Forestry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Pattimura; 2. Regional Development Planning Agency of Maluku Province; 3. Agricultural Cultivation Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Pattimura
Abstract: Mangrove forests currently have a very important role in supporting the global carbon cycle, by helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The condition of the forest including its biomass content needs to be mapped to support the MRV System in the REDD+ program in dealing with climate change. Mapping of the Mangrove Forest has been carried out in the small island of Osi, Eastern Indonesia using remote sensing in the form of an Unmaned Aerial Vehicle. In addition, a ground survey was also carried out to obtain data on Mangrove species and supporting parameters of Mangrove stands such as height, tree diameter for accuracy testing and calculation of biomass and carbon reserves in the field and compared with the results of calculations using UAV data. Based on the accuracy test of the Mangrove type Object-based UAV Image Analysis with identification results in the field, it shows that the Over All Accuracy reaches 92.98%. These results also show a close relationship between height, diameter, above ground biomass, above ground carbon UAV with height, diameter, above ground biomass, above ground carbon field. This close relationship is indicated by the coefficient of determination R2, respectively, 0.90, 0.87, 0.91 and 0.91. Thus, the height, diameter, above ground biomass and above ground carbon can be predicted with drone applications including mapping of the Mangrove forest area.

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