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Biomass as a Renewable Power Source

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 February 2022) | Viewed by 10009

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biofuels and biochemicals are a renewable and clean power resource.  With the problems of depletion of fossil resources as well as the adverse effects of the indiscriminate use of  fossil resources, there has been currently a paradigm shift to biofuels production. However, much of the research on this topic is far from the practical realization of industrial scale production  at the biorefinery facility.  The objective of the special issue on "Biomass as a Renewable Power Source" is to accelerate the research and development so that know-how is provided for the upcoming biorefinery installations.  Such facilities have potential for alleviating the problems of energy shortages, catastrophic effects of climate change, growing joblessness among skilled youth, and economic inflation.  Biomass is an abundant organic renewable feedstock that could be converted to biofuels such as biodiesel, bioethanol, glucose, biohydrogen, biomethane, biokerosene, jet fuel range hydrocarbons, bioelectricity and many other advanced biofuels by innovative catalytic processes, namely, transesterification, hydrolysis, dehydration,  isomerization, alkylation, hydrogenation, oxidation and many others.  A web of Science search with the keyword "biofuels" provides a total of 113,378 results (as on 2nd March 2021) in total. Growing interest in this field of research is clear from increase in number of publications on this topic during the last decade as shown in Figure 1.

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Figure 1. A plot of number of publication Vs year of publication from the web of science with the search keyword “Biofuels”.

Owing to the potential of biomass to solve the diverse problems mankind is currently facing, it is intended to bring out this Special Issue on “Biomass as a Renewable Power Source”, which will serve as a resource material for academics for initiating semester courses in academic institutes to educate young students and researchers on this subject and also serve as guidance for policymakers as well as industrial investors for building the necessary infrastructure for biorefinery facilities to produce biomass-based power sources.  The research community in this field is strongly encouraged to submit their research results for publication in this Special Issue of the journal Sustainability.

Scope:

  1. Biomass conversion processes;
  2. The transesterification of micro- and macroalgal biomass to biodiesel;
  3. The conversion of lignocellulosic and algal biomass to bioethanol;
  4. The conversion of biomass to biochemicals;
  5. Direct bioethanol alkaline fuel cells;
  6. The fermentation of carbohydrates to biofuels and biochemicals;
  7. The photofermentation of glucose to biohydrogen.

Dr. Indra Neel Pulidindi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biomass
  • biofuels
  • biochemicals
  • biodiesel
  • bioethanol
  • glucose
  • levulinic acid
  • formic acid
  • biomethane
  • biohydrogen
  • biofuel cells
  • solar energy
  • CO2 conversion

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

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27 pages, 1802 KiB  
Review
Crude Glycerol as a Potential Feedstock for Future Energy via Thermochemical Conversion Processes: A Review
by Mohsin Raza, Abrar Inayat and Basim Abu-Jdayil
Sustainability 2021, 13(22), 12813; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212813 - 19 Nov 2021
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 5919
Abstract
Biodiesel is an emerging substitute for petroleum-based products. It is considered an ecologically safe and sustainable fuel. The high cost of biodiesel production is linearly related to its feedstock. Crude glycerol, which is a by-product of the biodiesel industry, is also a major [...] Read more.
Biodiesel is an emerging substitute for petroleum-based products. It is considered an ecologically safe and sustainable fuel. The high cost of biodiesel production is linearly related to its feedstock. Crude glycerol, which is a by-product of the biodiesel industry, is also a major challenge that must be addressed. A large volume of crude glycerol needs to be disposed of, and this involves processing, dumping, and land requirements. This increases the cost of biodiesel production. One way to decrease the cost of biodiesel production is to utilize its by-product to make valuable products. Crude glycerol can be processed to produce a variety of chemicals and products. The present utilization of crude glycerol is not enough to bring down its surplus availability. Thermochemical conversion processes can utilize crude glycerol as a starting feedstock and convert it into solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels. The utilization of crude glycerol through integrated thermochemical conversion processes could lead to an integrated biorefinery. This review paper highlights the research scope for areas where crude glycerol could be utilized as a feedstock or co-feedstock in thermochemical conversion technology. Various thermochemical conversion processes, namely, gasification, pyrolysis, combustion, catalytic steam reforming, liquefaction, and supercritical water reforming, are discussed and shown to be highly suitable for the use of crude glycerol as an economical feedstock. It is found that the integration of crude glycerol with other thermochemical conversion processes for energy production is a promising option to overcome the challenges related to biodiesel production costs. Hence, this paper provides all the necessary information on the present utilization status of crude glycerol in thermochemical conversion processes, as well as identifying possible research gaps that could be filled by future research studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass as a Renewable Power Source)
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21 pages, 36414 KiB  
Case Report
Generation Expansion Planning Based on Local Renewable Energy Resources: A Case Study of the Isolated Ambon-Seram Power System
by Tumiran, Lesnanto Multa Putranto, Sarjiya, Fransisco Danang Wijaya, Adi Priyanto and Ira Savitri
Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 3032; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14053032 - 4 Mar 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3274
Abstract
Energy sustainability has become one of the main issues in power system planning in the Indonesian archipelago system, which has many small, isolated systems. For that purpose, green and sustainable generation expansion planning (GEP) procedures based on local energy resources is required. GEP [...] Read more.
Energy sustainability has become one of the main issues in power system planning in the Indonesian archipelago system, which has many small, isolated systems. For that purpose, green and sustainable generation expansion planning (GEP) procedures based on local energy resources is required. GEP is a necessary procedure for fulfilling electricity demand, which determines the generating units to be installed within a specified time horizon with minimal total costs as the objective function. This study uses GEP considering the interconnection option among the existing small scattered generation systems in Maluku: the isolated Ambon, Seram, Haruku, and Saparua systems. With interconnection, the utilization of local renewable energy sources would be increased, especially biomass, which has abundant potential in these areas. The GEP was simulated in the PLEXOS environment using mixed-integer linear programming (MILP). For comparison purposes, there were interconnection and isolated system scenarios. The results showed that the interconnection system would have a high share of a renewable energy source (RES) of up to 54% in 2050, most of which is biomass as the primary local energy source. The interconnection system scenario met the LOLP criteria and had a lower reserve margin and total costs than the isolated scenario, with USD 773.7 million. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass as a Renewable Power Source)
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