Dear Colleagues,

Wastes are produced by most of the essential activities of modern society, and their adequate disposal or valorization are challenges of sustainable development. Waste-to-energy systems may give a fundamental contribution for waste valorization due to their diverse nature as well as their capacity to process large amounts of materials. Innovation in catalysts, reactor design, genetic engineering of microorganisms, or downstream processing techniques has been a driver for progress of technologies for waste conversion.

This Special Issue invites original research papers to address new applications of thermochemical, biological, or integrated technologies for the conversion of organic, lignocellulosic, or polymeric wastes to energy or fuels. Additionally, the authors are encouraged to submit papers addressing the state-of-the-art and recent advancements in these areas, providing useful guidelines for future research directions.

Biorefinery approaches combining material and energy valorization are some of the pathways for achieving waste valorization solutions that are both economically viable and environmentally friendly.

Finally, the emerging technologies for carbon dioxide capture, storage, and conversion to gas or liquid fuels are the ultimate weapon to lower greenhouse gas emissions and valorize this gaseous waste.

Efficient waste-to-energy solutions are necessary to reduce our consumption of essential raw materials but also to preserve the quality of air, water, and soils that constitute our supporting ecosystem.

Thermochemical processes such as combustion, carbonization, pyrolysis, or 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:
Conversion of wastes to solid biofuels;
Production of liquid biofuels from lipidic wastes, lignocellulosic wastes, or polymeric wastes;
Production of gaseous biofuels by 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 to gas or liquid fuels;
Life cycle analysis of waste-to-energy systems.

 
Prof. Margarida Gonçalves
Prof. Cândida Vilarinho
Guest Editors

• Waste-to-energy systems
• Thermochemical processes
• Biological processes
• Biorefineries
• Microalgae
• Carbon dioxide conversion
• Life cycle analysis.