Challenges and Advances in Sustainable Biomass Crop Production

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Innovative Cropping Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2024 | Viewed by 885

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Center For Research And Technology - Hellas, Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: water; circular economy; renewable energy sources; optimization of resources in agriculture; bio-production; energy crop assessment for biomass production; CO2 emission evaluation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the agricultural sector, and more specifically in crop production systems, there is a huge potential for bioenergy production by green and/or yellow biomass sources. In the past, productivity was the only factor regarding crop yield evaluation. More recently, it has become obvious that crops should be assessed not only under the scope of crop productivity but also from a sustainability point of view.

Biomass energy crops and other yellow-based biomass sources (e.g., corn stover, wheat straw) have become of high interest in recent years around the globe based on their high potential as possible bioenergy production resources. The promotion of the use of biomass crop sources for bioenergy and bioproducts can be an important step to increase the sustainability of their production chain.

This Special Issue will focus on “Challenges and Advances in Sustainable Biomass Crop Production”. We invite authors to contribute to this Special Issue with novel research articles and reviews covering all topics in crop biomass production. Topics of particular interest for this issue concern the sustainable use of natural resources, environmentally friendly fertilization, water-saving methods, sustainable agronomic practices and modeling, crop physiology, energy consumption evaluation, life cycle analysis, climatic adaptation, biomass for energy, and bioproduct quality. Articles concerning all aspects of agronomic management, field operations management, and the adoption of new technologies applied to biomass crop production are welcome. We also welcome any potential article that is related to advances(i.e. information and communications technologies, automation systems and contol, agricultural robotics, UAVs, etc.) in any type of biomass crop-based production toward a more sustainable future.

Papers submitted to this Special Issue will be subject to peer review to allow a rapid dissemination of results.

Dr. Efthymios Rodias
Prof. Dr. Charisios Achillas
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. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

  • agronomic management
  • crop operations management
  • bioenergy
  • crop byproducts
  • bioproducts
  • sustainability
  • green biomass
  • yellow biomass
  • information and communications technologies
  • automation control

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 1626 KiB  
Article
Carbon Footprint of Brazilian Agriculture Based on Field Operations
by João P. S. Veiga, Gustavo V. Popin, Carlos E. P. Cerri and Thiago L. Romanelli
Agronomy 2024, 14(7), 1343; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy14071343 - 21 Jun 2024
Viewed by 284
Abstract
Agriculture has historically relied on fossil fuels as the primary source of energy, leading to significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and exacerbating climate change. Brazil, as the third-largest producer and exporter of agricultural goods globally, plays a pivotal role in the transformation towards [...] Read more.
Agriculture has historically relied on fossil fuels as the primary source of energy, leading to significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and exacerbating climate change. Brazil, as the third-largest producer and exporter of agricultural goods globally, plays a pivotal role in the transformation towards more sustainable practices. To this end, we propose a methodology to estimate CO2 equivalent (CO2-eq) emissions in agriculture, leveraging previous research on energy use in 23 crops in Brazil. The methodology aims to facilitate the comparison of emissions across different crops and production systems. Indirect emissions account for 36% of the total, while direct emissions account for 64%. Most direct emissions are due to the consumption of fertilizers and pesticides. The average emission per mass of product was 749.53 kg CO2-eq Mg−1, with cotton having the highest emissions and eucalyptus having the lowest emissions per product. The results highlight the importance of assessing GHG emissions from crops to identify emission reduction opportunities and promoting more sustainable agricultural practices. The study’s findings can inform policy recommendations and contribute to the development of sustainable agriculture practices globally, ultimately leading to a more environmentally friendly and economically viable agricultural sector. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges and Advances in Sustainable Biomass Crop Production)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Economic viability of biomass waste-to-energy exploitation: A case study
Authors: C. Achillas; E. Rodias
Affiliation: International Hellenic University, Department of Supply Chain Management, 60100 Katerini, Greece

Title: Crop residues as potential biomass source: A review
Authors: E. Rodias; C. Achillas
Affiliation: Center for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), Institute for Bio-economy and Agri-technology (iBO), 10th km Charilaou-Thermi Road, Balkan Center, 57001, Thermi/Thessaloniki, Greece

Title: Agricultural robotics in crop residues management: A review
Authors: E. Rodias; D. Bochtis
Affiliation: Center for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), Institute for Bio-economy and Agri-technology (iBO), 10th km Charilaou-Thermi Road, Balkan Center, 57001, Thermi/Thessaloniki, Greece

Title: Technoeconomic assessment of anaerobic digestion facility treating residual agricultural biomass from hydroponic greenhouse
Authors: C. Achillas; V. Diamantis
Affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, GR-67100 Xanthi, Greece

Title: The effect of temperature and relative humidity on crop residual biomass production
Authors: M. Lampridi; E. Rodias
Affiliation: The Centre for Research and Technology, Hellas · Institute for Bio-economy and Agri-technology

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