Processing, Production and Prospects of Biomass

Dear Colleagues,

As a renewable energy source derived from plants, animals or waste, biomass can be considered as an important and sustainable resource in many countries. From biomass, we can obtain biofuels that, in turn, could be converted to energy. Nevertheless, the production of biomass requires a large amount of land and water; its large-scale production will also cause damage to forests and soils. In addition, biomass production aimed at energy conversion can be seasonal, and its production is location dependent. Damage to the land provided by intensive biomass production will also affect the food supply, further causing food security problems and higher food prices. This is one motivation for which second- and third-generation biofuels are preferred to the first generation.

The negative social impact of biomass usage must be addressed to cater for real sustainable development. This demands higher-performance and cost-effective technologies. In addition, we need to efficiently implement concepts like reuse, recycle, valorization and circular economy.

This Special Issue aims to discuss the processing, production and prospects of biomass. We welcome research results from researchers including but not limited to:

• Technologies and processes for bio-energy conversion;
• Gasification, pyrolysis processes and hydrothermal carbonization of biomass;
• Bioethanol production;
• Catalysts and catalytic conversion of biomass;
• Bioreactors for bioenergy and biochemical production;
• Biomass residue reuse, waste valorization of biomass;
• Preparation, characterization and applications of biomass-derived carbon materials;
• Advanced techniques in metabolic engineering and bioprocess engineering;
• Impact of biomass production on agriculture, industry and the food sector;
• Environmental and climate impacts of biomass production.

Dr. Cataldo De Blasio
Guest Editor

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. Applied Sciences 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.

• biomass
• biofuels
• biochar
• biocoal
• bio-oil
• biochemicals
• biocomposites
• lignocellulose
• biopolymers
• biobased materials
• pretreatment
• cellulose
• hemicellulose
• lignin
• nanocellulose
• gasification
• pyrolysis
• hydrothermal carbonization
• carbonization
• metabolic engineering
• gas fermentation
• biotechnology
• bioprocess engineering
• thermochemical conversion
• biorefinery
• fermentation
• torrefaction
• biogas
• anaerobic digestion
• syngas
• catalysis
• wastes
• residues
• upgrade
• valorization biomass
• biomass cultivation
• biomass growth
• vegetation carbon cycle
• soil amendment
• renewable resources
• energy efficiency
• renewable raw materials
• food industry
• paper industry