Bioenergy, Land Use and Ecology Protection

Dear Colleagues, 

The promotion of renewable energy is considered one of the most effective strategies to cope with climate change. In terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission saving, renewable energies are superior when compared to traditional energies (e.g., fossil fuel, coal). Among different kinds of renewable energies, bioenergy has attracted public attention during the worldwide energy transition. Over the last decade, we have witnessed a rapid growth in bioenergy production, driven by social and economic factors. However, this development has also resulted in significant impacts on land use patterns and the regional environment. In particular, the increasing demand for agricultural-based feedstock reflected in the changing agricultural landscape has led to significant biodiversity loss, ecosystem service decline, and food security. Given the complex nature of bioenergy systems, the impacts show high spatial and temporal heterogeneities and require both short- and long-term evaluation. Thus, the sustainability of bioenergy production has been the subject of long-term debate.

In order to establish a sustainable bioenergy system, we welcome papers on original studies, reviews, and case studies to address this issue. The submissions for this Special Issue on “Bioenergy, Land Use and Ecological Protection” thus includes but is not limited to the following topics:

• Environmental impact analysis of bioenergy production;
• Classic life cycle assessment or regional life cycle assessment of bioenergy systems;
• Bioenergy production under three pillars of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social);
• Direct and indirect land use change caused by increasing demand of bioenergy;
• Ecological consequences associated with bioenergy production and potential protection strategies;
• Multi-objective optimization approaches for meeting the win-win scenarios of bioenergy production, ecological protection, and economic benefits;
• Scenarios modeling for exploring effective management approaches for bioenergy systems under climate change;
• Bioenergy production and local economic development.

Dr. Xueqing Yang
Dr. Alberto Bezama
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.

• bioenergy
• land use change
• ecosystem service
• biodiversity
• spatial heterogeneity
• carbon footprint
• life cycle assessment
• socio-economic analyses
• multi-objective optimization
• climate change
• agricultural landscape
• local economic development