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Technologies for a Sustainable Future: Bioeconomy, Biorefineries, Biobased Products and Energy

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 5666

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Silvio Silvério da Silva

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, Engineering School of Lorena, University of São Paulo, Lorena 12.602-810, Brazil
Interests: biorefineries; sustainable products (second-generation ethanol, xylitol and biosurfactants, biopolymers, bioligants and biopigments); pre-treatment of plant biomasses, bioeconomy, industrial microbiology
Prof. Dr. Talita Martins Lacerda

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, Engineering School of Lorena, University of São Paulo, Lorena 12.602-810, Brazil
Interests: biorefineries; sustainable products (biopolymers); green chemistry
Prof. Dr. Paulo Ricardo Franco Marcelino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, Engineering School of Lorena, University of São Paulo, Lorena 12.602-810, Brazil
Interests: biorefineries; sustainable products (biosurfactants); microbial metabolites; industrial microbiology; environmental microbiology
Dr. Fernanda Gonçalves Barbosa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, Engineering School of Lorena, University of São Paulo, Lorena 12.602-810, Brazil
Interests: biorefineries; sustainable products (biosurfactants); microbial metabolites; industrial microbiology; environmental microbiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The ongoing environmental crisis, boosted by the unrestrained use of petroleum as a source of energy, chemicals and materials has motivated an increasing interest in the search for alternative processes that can reduce the impact in all industrial sectors. Global warming and the pollution of lands, rivers and oceans are threats to the future of the planet and the health of mankind. It is, therefore, desirable to implement measures to promote an social and economic shift towards a sustainable development, as recently discussed at COP26. Scientists and authorities from several countries are working on the search for viable tools to mitigate the environmental problems caused by the high dependence on oil and its derivatives, mainly aiming to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by expanding the production and use of renewable energy, as well as sustainable products and processes. In fact, the implementation of policies that encourage developed countries to invest in the sustainable development of those with emerging economies seems to be a promising approach to guarantee the necessary advances in sustainable technologies and their ensuing products.

This Special Issue is intended to unite original research that focus on the general concern with sustainable development, including investigations, novel strategies, processes and products, whose main goal is to contribute to the wellbeing of future generations. Manuscripts dealing with (i) the evaluation of the social, economic and environmental impacts of the transition from an oil-based economy to a bioeconomy, (ii) strategies for the development of biorefineries, (iii) sustainable processes in the context of biorefineries, (iv) sustainable products in the context of biorefineries, (iv) the carbon market and strategies for its regulation, (v) social studies and sustainable development, (vi) sustainability and inclusive industrialization, (vii ) strategies for the conservation of oceans, seas and rivers and the sustainable use of aquatic resources, (viii) agroecology and sustainability, and (ix) bioenergy are welcome to be considered for publication.

We look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Prof. Dr. Silvio Silvério da Silva
Prof. Dr. Talita Martins Lacerda
Prof. Dr. Paulo Ricardo Franco Marcelino
Dr. Fernanda Gonçalves Barbosa
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.

Keywords

  • bioeconomy
  • sustainable development
  • biorefineries
  • biobased products
  • bioenergy and agroecology

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 634 KiB  
Article
A Conceptual Framework of the Sustainability Challenges Experienced during the Life Cycle of Biobased Packaging Products
by Deniz Turkcu, Nina Tura and Ville Ojanen
Sustainability 2022, 14(17), 10465; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710465 - 23 Aug 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2503
Abstract
Biobased packaging products are framed as products that have environmental value. They are promoted by many institutions and companies as a way of addressing climate change challenges by decreasing carbon footprints and providing alternatives for the fossil fuel-based economy. The use of biobased [...] Read more.
Biobased packaging products are framed as products that have environmental value. They are promoted by many institutions and companies as a way of addressing climate change challenges by decreasing carbon footprints and providing alternatives for the fossil fuel-based economy. The use of biobased packaging products has started to become widespread, and they are increasingly commercially available. Despite the acknowledged benefits of such products, there are several challenges associated with the use of them. This paper provides a state-of-the-art review of biobased packaging products and presents a conceptual framework of the sustainability challenges experienced over their life cycles. The framework categorizes the identified challenges by their environmental, social, and economic impact, as well in terms of the different life cycle stages, from beginning of life to middle of life to end of life. In addition to increasing the understanding of the challenges associated with biobased packaging materials and their use, the proposed framework benefits the analysis of these challenges in different organizations, the identification of potential greenwashing, and the development of mitigation strategies to overcome the challenges. Furthermore, this study reveals gaps in the literature to be considered in future research into biobased packaging products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technologies for a Sustainable Future: Bioeconomy, Biorefineries, Biobased Products and Energy)
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29 pages, 16860 KiB  
Article
Expressing OsiSAP8, a Zinc-Finger Associated Protein Gene, Mitigates Stress Dynamics in Existing Elite Rice Varieties of the ‘Green Revolution’
by Subramanian Radhesh Krishnan, Pandiyan Muthuramalingam, Arumugam Mohana Priya, Mani Iyer Prasanth, Krishnasamy Gopinath, Chakravarthi Mohan, Karthikeyan Muthusamy, Krishnaswamy Balamurugan, Aditya Kumar Gupta and Manikandan Ramesh
Sustainability 2022, 14(16), 10174; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610174 - 16 Aug 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1665
Abstract
Key message: Overexpression of OsiSAP8 driven by Port Ubi2.3 from Porteresia coarctata imparts drought and salinity stress tolerance in transgenic rice. Stress associated proteins (SAPs) possess the zinc-finger domains that are wildly evolving functional and conserved regions/factors in plants to combat abiotic stresses. [...] Read more.
Key message: Overexpression of OsiSAP8 driven by Port Ubi2.3 from Porteresia coarctata imparts drought and salinity stress tolerance in transgenic rice. Stress associated proteins (SAPs) possess the zinc-finger domains that are wildly evolving functional and conserved regions/factors in plants to combat abiotic stresses. In this study, the promoter region of OsiSAP8, an intron-less, multiple stress inducible gene, was compared in silico with a strong constitutive promoter, Port Ubi2.3. This resulted in developing rice, resistant to drought and salinity expressing OsiSAP8 promoted by Port Ubi2.3. (Porteresia coarctata), through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in the popular rice varieties, IR36 and IR64. Southern blot hybridization confirmed the integration of OsiSAP8, and the T0 transgenic lines of IR36 and IR64 were evaluated for their drought and salinity tolerance. The IR36-T1 progenies showed an enhanced tolerance to water withhold stress compared to wild type and IR64-T1 progenies. Physiological parameters, such as the panicle weight, number of panicles, leaf wilting, and TBARS assay, showed the transgenic IR36 to be superior. The transgenic lines performed better with higher 80–95% relative leaf water content when subjected to drought for 14 days. Gene expression analysis of OsiSAP8 in IR36 T1 showed a 1.5-fold upregulation under mannitol stress. However, IR64 T1 showed a two-fold upregulation in NaCl stress. An enhanced drought and salinity stress tolerance in the transgenic IR36 cultivar through overexpression of OsiSAP8 was observed as it had a native copy of OsiSAP8. This is perhaps the first study using a novel ubiquitin promoter (Port Ubi2.3) to generate drought and salinity stress-tolerant transgenic rice. Thus, we report the overexpression of a rice gene (OsiSAP8) by a rice promoter (Port Ubi2.3) in rice (IR36) to resist drought and salinity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technologies for a Sustainable Future: Bioeconomy, Biorefineries, Biobased Products and Energy)
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Review

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28 pages, 1703 KiB  
Review
Agricultural Bioinputs Obtained by Solid-State Fermentation: From Production in Biorefineries to Sustainable Agriculture
by Thiago Moura Rocha, Paulo Ricardo Franco Marcelino, Rogger Alessandro Mata Da Costa, Daylin Rubio-Ribeaux, Fernanda Gonçalves Barbosa and Silvio Silvério da Silva
Sustainability 2024, 16(3), 1076; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16031076 - 26 Jan 2024
Viewed by 960
Abstract
Agriculture plays a major role on society, especially in developing countries which rely on commodity exportation markets. To maintain high crop productivity, the use of agrochemicals was once employed as the main strategy, which in turn affected soil, water, and human health. In [...] Read more.
Agriculture plays a major role on society, especially in developing countries which rely on commodity exportation markets. To maintain high crop productivity, the use of agrochemicals was once employed as the main strategy, which in turn affected soil, water, and human health. In order to aid this issue, identifying some alternatives, such as the implementation of biofertilizers and inoculants as bioinputs in modern agriculture, are imperative to improve ecosystem quality. Among these bioinputs, a few bioproducts have shown good performances, such as phytohormones (e.g., auxins and giberellins), biosurfactants, and other enzymes; thus, it is extremely important to assure the quality and feasibility of their production in biorefinery scenarios. These bioproducts can be synthesized through fermentation processes through utilizing plant biomasses and agricultural byproducts as carbon sources. In this sense, to increase the tecno-economical availability of these processes, the implementation of solid-state fermentation (SSF) has shown great potential due to its ease of operation and cost-attractiveness. Therefore, this study aims to describe the main substrates used in SSF systems for the production of potential bioinputs; their associated operation hurdles, parameters, and conditions selection; the most suitable microorganisms; and the underlying mechanisms of these molecules in soil dynamics. Within this context, this study is expected to contribute to the development of new processes in modern biorefineries and to the mitigation of environmental impacts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technologies for a Sustainable Future: Bioeconomy, Biorefineries, Biobased Products and Energy)
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