Woody Biomass Power Generation and Sustainable Energy Development
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2022) | Viewed by 2675
Special Issue Editor
Interests: biofuels; nuclear power; renewable energy policy; waste management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear colleagues,
While most assessments of a sustainable, clean energy future predict that the vast majority of the new energy demand would be met by solar and wind power technologies, woody biomass fuels can also play a modest, supporting role. However, questions remain about the sustainability of forest-based biomass energy harvesting and utilization, including the generally low energy content, inefficient conversion rate, and high carbon dioxide emissions from combustion (10–35% more carbon emissions per unit of power than coal). These emissions can be offset by sustainable land use practices, including reforestation and afforestation programs or offsets. In such cases, rigorous verification of carbon sequestration is essential to confirm claims of sustainability or carbon neutrality. Moreover, due to the high weight (and thus large transportation costs) of the feedstock, the use of woody fuel for power generation is generally limited to heavily forested areas and at industrial sites such as lumber, pulp, and paper mills. In addition to whole tree harvests, energy consumption from woody biomass can include wood waste in the form of bark, sawdust, wood chips, wood scrap, and mill residues.
This Special Issue will report recent research results on the sustainability of woody biomass use for power generation around the world. Among the topics that could be addressed by potential authors are the following: more efficient technologies for biomass power generation; cofiring and cogeneration systems with biomass power; advances in the debate over the carbon neutrality of biofuels; life cycle analyses; strengthened verification systems for carbon dioxide offsets of woody biomass emissions; the impact of woody biomass feedstock production on forest and ecosystem health; the ecological impacts of whole-tree harvesting to produce wood chips; the sustainability of wood pellet production for export markets; and public opinion on biomass power generation. This Special Issue will build upon the existing literature to enrich the debate about the sustainable development of woody biomass resources for electric power generation.
Prof. emer. Dr. Barry D. Solomon
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- biopower
- carbon emissions from biopower
- carbon footprint
- forestry offsets
- life cycle analysis
- sustainable biopower
- wood fuel from forests
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