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Sustainable Biomass Energy: Opportunities and Challenges for a Green Future
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Sustainable Biomass Energy: Opportunities and Challenges for a Green Future

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2025) | Viewed by 6461

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jorge Aburto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Management of Biomass Conversion, Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo, Mexico City 07730, Mexico
Interests: bioenergy; biofuels; bio-based chemicals and materials; techno-economic analysis; life cycle analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Arick Castillo-Landero

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Biomass Conversion Division, Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo, Mexico City 07730, Mexico
Interests: bioenergy; biofuels; process system engineering; sustainable processes; life cycle analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The industry plays a key role in the development of new sustainable energy generation strategies to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and mitigate the increase in the Earth’s temperature, which causes climate change, such as energy generated from biomass or bioenergy. Biomass, when subjected to sustainable physicochemical or biotechnological conversions, generates cleaner energy, fuels and bio-based chemicals than traditional fossil fuel technology. This type of technology offers satisfying advantages such as the abundant presence of biomass on Earth and is now a major challenge that has been set in motion to achieve a green future worldwide. Nowadays, the implementation of bioenergy implies a considerable challenge, as the objective is to improve several aspects such as achieving processes that are economically profitable compared to the fossil industry, with benefits for the development of communities and decarbonization of industry sectors such as petroleum, chemical, power and heat generation, transport, agro-industrial, agricultural and cement, among others.

This integration could be achieved by investigating those challenges that allow us to move the energy industry to a decarbonized and green industry, analyzing those opportunities where we need to work on the gradual introduction of green technologies. This Special Issue welcomes original research articles and critical reviews on the developments and challenges involved in the energy industry's transformation to a net zero emissions sector through the support of the biomass-based industry.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Increasing sustainable bioenergy production.
  • Developing a sustainable circular bioeconomy.
  • Decarbonization of industry using renewable energy such as bioenergy.
  • Biofuels production and its sustainable impact.
  • Integral biorefineries for energy, fuels and bio-based chemicals.
  • Techno-economic and life cycle assessment in bioenergy.
  • Strategies to develop a green industry.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Jorge Aburto
Dr. Arick Castillo-Landero
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 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 2400 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

  • biomass
  • bioenergy
  • sustainability
  • decarbonization
  • circular and bioenergy economy
  • biofuels
  • life cycle assessment
  • social impact
  • techno-economic assessment
  • green industry

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 7054 KiB  
Article
Pistachio Shell Ash in Agro-Waste Cement Composites: A Pathway to Low-Carbon Binders
by Mahmut Durmaz and Murat Doğruyol
Sustainability 2025, 17(9), 4003; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17094003 - 29 Apr 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 488
Abstract
This study evaluates pistachio shell ash (PSA) as a sustainable cement substitute and investigates its effect on setting time, strength and microstructure. In this study, pistachio shell ash (PSA) obtained from the kiln flue gas filter of pistachio shells burnt at 300–350 °C [...] Read more.
This study evaluates pistachio shell ash (PSA) as a sustainable cement substitute and investigates its effect on setting time, strength and microstructure. In this study, pistachio shell ash (PSA) obtained from the kiln flue gas filter of pistachio shells burnt at 300–350 °C in an industrial kiln was used. PSA was substituted for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30%. PSA increased the SO3 value in the cement mortars, so 5% PSA substitution delayed the cement setting time by up to 174%. However, it increased the water requirement of the cement mortar by about 2%. While it increased the early strength (22% on day 1, 15% on day 2, and 5% on day 7), the 28-day strength decreased slightly (about 4.5%) due to low pozzolanic activity. Microstructural analyses such as SEM-EDX and XRD showed that the calcite and gypsum phases of PSA provided early strength gains, but there were long-term losses. With a 5% replacement rate, PSA provides significant environmental benefits by reducing CO2 emissions while maintaining optimum mechanical performance and supports the circular economy through the efficient use of agricultural waste. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Biomass Energy: Opportunities and Challenges for a Green Future)
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15 pages, 4956 KiB  
Article
Is Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production Through Hydroprocessing of Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) and Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) Technologies Feasible in Mexico?
by Jorge Aburto, Elías Martínez-Hernández and Arick Castillo-Landero
Sustainability 2025, 17(4), 1584; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041584 - 14 Feb 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3136
Abstract
The production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has gained more attention in recent years due to the initiative to implement new technologies to improve the decarbonization of the energy and transport industry, especially the aviation sector, in different countries. In Mexico, the production [...] Read more.
The production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has gained more attention in recent years due to the initiative to implement new technologies to improve the decarbonization of the energy and transport industry, especially the aviation sector, in different countries. In Mexico, the production of SAF has been promoted as a sustainable initiative to boost the agro-industrial sector, the nation’s self-sufficiency, and compliance with national and international CO2 emission reduction goals. Nowadays, there are two technologies with a high level of technological readiness ready to be implemented as a solution to produce SAF, which are hydrotreating esters and fatty acids (HEFA) and Alcohol to Jet (ATJ). These technologies use biomass as a source of feedstock and are described as possible sustainable solutions to reduce the CO2 emissions from conventional aviation fuels. This work analyses the feasibility of implementing these two technologies as a strategy to promote the use of SAF in Mexico from the biomass available in the country based on a techno-economic analysis and a life cycle assessment of each technology. Based on this study on SAF production, a return on investment of 10.2% for HEFA-SPK technology and 13.7% for ATJ-SPK technology was obtained. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Biomass Energy: Opportunities and Challenges for a Green Future)
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13 pages, 1705 KiB  
Article
Application of In-House Xylanases as an Addition to a Commercial Cellulase Cocktail for the Sustainable Saccharification of Pretreated Blue Agave Bagasse Used for Bioethanol Production
by Carmina Montiel, Oscar Hernández-Meléndez, Susana Marques, Francisco Gírio, João Tavares, Ornella Ontañon, Eleonora Campos and Eduardo Bárzana
Sustainability 2024, 16(16), 6722; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16166722 - 6 Aug 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1546
Abstract
The study involves the use of commercial cellulase Cellic CTec2 in combination with two in-house xylanases, PxXyn10A (XynA), a recombinant purified enzyme from Paenibacillus xylanivorans A59, and a xylanase enzymatic extract from native Moesziomyces aphidis PYCC 5535T (MaPYCC 5535T), for the enzymatic [...] Read more.
The study involves the use of commercial cellulase Cellic CTec2 in combination with two in-house xylanases, PxXyn10A (XynA), a recombinant purified enzyme from Paenibacillus xylanivorans A59, and a xylanase enzymatic extract from native Moesziomyces aphidis PYCC 5535T (MaPYCC 5535T), for the enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated blue agave bagasse (BAB) at the high solids load of 20% (w/v). Three different combinations of cellulase and xylanases were evaluated. When Cellic® CTec2 was used at a dosage of 10 FPU/g oven-dried solids (ODS) supplemented with XynA or MaPYCC 5535T at an endo-xylanase dosage of 100 U/g ODS, increases in the xylose yield of 30% and 33%, respectively, were obtained. When applying in-house xylanases alone (at an endo-xylanase dosage of 100 U/g ODS), xylan in BAB was selectively hydrolyzed into xylose with 5% yield with MaPYCC 5535T, while no xylose was detected with XynA. Interestingly, a synergic effect of Cellic® CTec 2 with both xylanases was observed when using a low dosage of 1 FPU/g ODS (allowing for some liquefaction of the reaction mixture), promoting xylose and glucose release by either xylanase. A higher concentration of monomeric sugars was obtained with 10 FPU/g ODS of Cellic® Ctec 2 supplemented with 100 U/g ODS of MaPYCC 5535T, followed by XynA. The improvement in saccharification through the synergistic combination of in-house xylanases and commercial cellulases allows for the obtention of sugar-rich hydrolysates, which enhances the technical sustainability of the process. Hydrolysates were then fermented using recombinant Cellux 4TM yeast to yield 45 g/L ethanol, representing an increase of about 30% with respect to the control obtained with only the commercial cellulase cocktail. The surface modification of agave biomass with the different combinations of enzymes was evidenced by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Biomass Energy: Opportunities and Challenges for a Green Future)
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