Valorizing Waste through Thermal and Biological Processes for Sustainable Energy Production

Dear Colleagues,

Wastes are produced by most essential activities necessitated by modern society, and their adequate disposal or valorization poses a significant sustainable development challenge. Waste-to-energy systems may contribute to waste valorization due to their diverse nature as well as their capacity to process large amounts of materials. Innovations in catalysts, reactor design, the genetic engineering of microorganisms, and downstream processing techniques have driven technological progress in waste conversion. This Topic invites original research papers to address new applications of thermochemical, biological, or integrated technologies for the conversion of organic, lignocellulosic, or polymeric wastes into energy or fuels. Additionally, authors are encouraged to submit papers addressing the state of the art and recent advancements in these areas in order to provide useful guidelines for future research. Biorefinery approaches combining material and energy valorization may be used to achieve waste valorization solutions that are both economically viable and environmentally friendly. Finally, emerging technologies for carbon dioxide capture, storage, and conversion into gas or liquid fuels exhibit great potential in lowering greenhouse gas emissions and valorizing these gaseous wastes. Efficient waste-to-energy solutions are necessary for reducing our consumption of essential raw materials as well as preserving the quality of air, water, and soils that constitute ecosystems. Thermochemical processes, such as combustion, carbonization, pyrolysis, and gasification, have been mainly applied to lignocellulosic or polymeric wastes, while biological processes such as anaerobic digestion or fermentation have been used to convert organic and lignocellulosic materials.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Waste-to-energy technologies;
• Conversion of wastes into solid biofuels;
• Production of liquid biofuels from lipidic wastes, lignocellulosic wastes, or polymeric wastes;
• Production of gaseous biofuels through thermochemical or biological processes;
• Production of alcohols from organic or lignocellulosic wastes;
• Production of hydrogen from wastes;
• Catalytic upgrading of waste-derived fuels;
• Waste biorefineries; Microalgae-based biorefineries;
• Carbon dioxide capture, storage, and conversion into gas or liquid fuels;
• Life cycle analysis of waste-to-energy systems.

Prof. Dr. Margarida Gonçalves
Prof. Dr. Cândida Vilarinho
Topic Editors