Sustainable Biofuels: Opportunities and Challenges
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Chemical Engineering and Technology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The urgent need to decarbonize the global energy system has brought sustainable biofuels to the forefront of research, policy, and industrial agendas. As a renewable energy carrier derived from biomass, biofuels offer a promising route to reduce dependence on fossil resources, particularly in hard-to-electrify sectors such as aviation, shipping, and heavy-duty transport. This Special Issue, “Sustainable Biofuels: Opportunities and Challenges”, seeks to highlight cutting-edge advances and critical challenges in the sustainable production, upgrading, and deployment of biofuels, with a strong emphasis on circularity, carbon neutrality, and integration with emerging technologies.
Two interrelated themes guide this collection:
- Conversion and upgrading technologies: Coverage of thermochemical (pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction, gasification) and biochemical (fermentation, anaerobic digestion) pathways, complemented by advanced catalytic upgrading strategies. These include hydrotreatment, integration of renewable hydrogen utilities, co-processing with conventional refinery streams, and synergistic integration with CO2 valorization or water treatment.
- System-level assessments and deployment: The integration of life cycle assessment (LCA), techno-economic analysis (TEA), water–energy–carbon nexus studies, and policy evaluation to assess system sustainability, scalability, infrastructure compatibility, and regional implementation challenges.
This Special Issue aims to complement the existing literature by presenting a multidimensional view of sustainable biofuels, spanning materials science, process engineering, environmental science, and policy. By linking fundamental research with applied outcomes and real-world impact, the contributions to this Issue will help inform the development of future-ready, climate-resilient fuel systems. We invite researchers, industry experts, and policymakers to contribute original research articles, reviews, and perspectives that push the boundaries of sustainable biofuel innovation and contribute to global climate and energy goals.
Dr. Abdenour Achour
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- sustainable biofuels
- biomass-to-liquid (BtL)
- catalytic hydrotreatment
- hydrothermal liquefaction
- bio-oil upgrading
- green hydrogen integration
- co-processing
- circular carbon economy
- techno-economic analysis
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