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Biomass for Energy: Challenges, Opportunities and Potential Solutions

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 14888

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ekaterina Sermyagina

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Guest Editor

Energy Technology Department, LUT University, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland
Interests: energy from biomass; hydrothermal carbonization; torrefaction; pelletization; material synthesis and characterization; combined heat and power; district heating; modelling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change is undoubtedly the most crucial threat to global security. Significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is needed to create a sustainable future while supporting active economic development. Efficient utilization of natural resources for energy applications is a key issue toward the achievement of carbon neutrality. In order to succeed, long-term structural changes are required for different sectors, thus creating more balanced and sustainable patterns of energy supply and demand. Modern bioenergy provides valuable opportunities to produce energy and value products from renewable sources for effective substitution of conventional fossil fuels.

While the potential of biomass toward energy applications is widely recognized and actively studied, generating energy from biomass is still rather expensive due to both technological limits and logistical constraints. Stronger policy support and innovation are essential to reduce costs that are required to scale up and expand biomass utilization. This Special Issue seeks to collect scientific, engineering, economic, and social research on the opportunities, challenges, and potential solutions for biomass resources as sustainable energy sources for energy generation.

This Special Issue will provide a platform for extensive discussions concerning the possibilities to address the existing challenges of biomass use for energy, e.g., operational, economic, social and policy, and regulatory issues. To overcome the biggest technical barriers of efficient biomass utilization, appropriate pretreatment techniques are needed to prevent biodegradation and increase the original energy content. Numerous papers have investigated different aspects of biomass energy potential and technologies that can be used to improve it. The overall impact of biomass supply chain practices needs to be explored further. In addition, upgraded technological solutions suitable for an effective and cost-attractive use of biomass resources must be properly addressed. International-scale case studies of the successful integration of biomass-based energy solutions should be presented and evaluated as valuable reference examples for other countries and industry sectors. Knowledge on these topics should be discussed and shared internationally to accelerate technological development toward a sustainable future.

This Special Issue will intensively focus on the prospects of biomass-derived energy to meet the growing energy demand globally and contribute effectively to the energy transition. Research papers dealing with biomass energy potential upgrades and biomass-driven combined heat and power, co-firing, and combustion plants are most welcome. Evaluation of various other aspects of biomass energy utilization, such as economic and environmental, will also be considered. Papers concerning overcoming policy, regulatory and social challenges will be welcomed.

Dr. Ekaterina Sermyagina
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. 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

renewable energy
wastes and by-products
biofuels
biomass
bioenergy
sustainable resources
combined heat and power
biomass co-firing
biomass boilers
biomass pretreatment
torrefaction
pelletizing
hydrothermal carbonization
gasification
combustion

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

17 pages, 6742 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental and Numerical Characterisation of a Non-Tubular Stirling Engine Heater for Biomass Applications

by David García, María-José Suárez, Eduardo Blanco and Jesús-Ignacio Prieto

Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16488; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142416488 - 09 Dec 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1364

Abstract

In the current context of environmental deterioration and rising energy costs, systems based on Stirling engines are interesting not only because of their proven efficiency and very low noise level, but also because of their ability to use renewable energies. Micro-CHP units based on Stirling engines fuelled by both solar energy and biomass can reduce CO₂ emissions on a household scale, but the second option avoids problems usually related to the intermittency of solar energy. This paper describes the geometry and experimental characterisation of a new non-tubular heater design that is potentially interesting for biomass applications, and its analysis by means of a CFD model. The CFD model provides valuable information, under engine operating conditions, on the temperature distributions in the walls and the working gas, as well as the pressure and velocity of the gas particles, which are operating variables that are almost impossible to measure in practice. The new heater can be coupled to the Stirling engine of a previously developed micro-CHP unit for solar energy conversion, which has another non-tubular heater. The heat transfer rates achieved with both non-tubular heaters are compared with each other and with the values of the SOLO V160 engine heater, which consists of a tube bundle. The results show that the micro-CHP Stirling unit would develop more indicated power with the biomass heater than with the solar heater, providing information for future improvements of the indicated efficiency. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass for Energy: Challenges, Opportunities and Potential Solutions)

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20 pages, 22699 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of a Multi-Criteria Analysis Decision-Support Tool for the Sustainability of Forest Biomass Heating Projects in Quebec

by Raphaël Dias Brandao, Evelyne Thiffault and Annie Levasseur

Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13200; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142013200 - 14 Oct 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1149

Abstract

Residual forest biomass for heating is an alternative to fossil fuels that is in line with global greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. Even if the opportunities and the benefits of such projects may be important, one should not neglect the barriers and potential impacts of these projects regarding their sustainability. The decision support tool developed and presented in this paper will help guide and support public decision makers in selecting the best project and improving its sustainability. A reliable and relevant weighting method is determined, based on the use of the Analytic Hierarchical Process multi-criteria decision analysis method, allowing the integration of stakeholders and the consideration of their views and opinions. This choice, combined with the privileged use of quantifiable qualitative data, allows the use of the tool in a preliminary phase of the project development and enables the evaluation of the project and its sustainability from a social acceptability perspective. The tool was applied to two fictional scenarios to demonstrate its ability to guide decision making and to highlight the differentiation of weights and scenarios through both weighting and evaluation methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass for Energy: Challenges, Opportunities and Potential Solutions)

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19 pages, 1807 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Determination of Energy Parameters and Their Variability between Varieties of Fodder and Turf Grasses

by Łukasz Sobol, Karol Wolski, Adam Radkowski, Elżbieta Piwowarczyk, Maciej Jurkowski, Henryk Bujak and Arkadiusz Dyjakon

Sustainability 2022, 14(18), 11369; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su141811369 - 10 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1160

Abstract

Due to the need to diversify energy sources and transform the energy system and its decarbonization, new paths for obtaining raw materials are being sought. One of the potential options is to increase the use of grasses’ share in bioenergy production, which has a significant area potential. However, the diversified chemical composition of grasses and their anatomical heterogeneity mean that, between the various cultivars and species, the parameters determining their energetic usefulness may differ significantly, hence the key is to know the appropriate parameters at the variety level of a given species in order to effectively carry out the combustion process. In this experiment, a total of 23 varieties of seven grass species (Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), Red Fescue (Festuca rubra L.), Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), Meadow Fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.), Timothy (Phleum pratense L.), Common Bent (Agrostis capillaris L.), Sheep Fescue (Festuca ovina L.), which had not yet been evaluated in terms of energy utilization, were tested. Proximate analysis showed the average ash content was in the range of 5.73–8.31%, the content of volatile matter in the range of 70.99–82.29% and the content of fixed carbon in the range of 5.96–17.19%. Higher heating value and lower heating value of grasses ranged from 16,548–18,616 kJ∙kg⁻¹, 15,428–17,453 kJ∙kg⁻¹, respectively. The Sheep Fescue turned out to be the most useful species for combustion. It has been shown that there may be statistically significant differences in the parameters determining their combustion suitability between the various varieties of a given species of grass. Therefore the major finding of this work shows that it is necessary to need to know theparameters of a given variety is necessary to optimize the combustion process and maintain the full energy efficiency of the system (especially lower heating value). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass for Energy: Challenges, Opportunities and Potential Solutions)

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17 pages, 1634 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Use of Hydrochar Produced by Hydrothermal Carbonization of Lignocellulosic Biomass for Thermal Power Plants in Chile: A Techno-Economic and Environmental Study

by Samuel Carrasco, Ernesto Pino-Cortés, Andrés Barra-Marín, Alejandro Fierro-Gallegos and Marcelo León

Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 8041; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14138041 - 30 Jun 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2254

Abstract

Hydrothermal carbonization makes it possible to transform lignocellulosic biomass into hydrochar, a carbon-rich material that can be used as fuel. Hydrochar has less calorific value than standard coal but generates less ashes during combustion. This study is a pre-feasibility analysis carried out to evaluate technically-economically and environmentally the use of hydrochar as fuel or co-fuel in thermal power plants in Chile. Until now there are no reports about it. The proposal of this work was to study the replacement of coal with a fuel that uses the same equipment and processes in power generation but with less air emission and with an economically profitable change. The results suggest that a plant with a supply of 104 t/h of bituminous coal could be replaced between 18 and 37 t/h of hydrochar, with a reduction of 8 and 27% in NO_x and SO₂ emissions, a reduction in 7 to 24% in ashes and a marginal increase in CO₂ emission. The proposed use of hydrochar was economically profitable, with internal rates of return of up to 40% and with cash flows that reached USD 22 million. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass for Energy: Challenges, Opportunities and Potential Solutions)

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28 pages, 1157 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identifying Challenges and Drivers for Deployment of Centralized Biogas Plants in Denmark

by Mark Booker Nielsen

Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 8021; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14138021 - 30 Jun 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1734

Abstract

There is an increasing need to accelerate the diffusion of biogas technology, to contribute to handling grand societal challenges. It is thus concerning that around 30% of all biogas projects are abandoned. Previous studies have found that challenges for deployment of bioenergy technology are mainly economic and financial challenges, market and infrastructure challenges, regulatory and administrative challenges, local opposition, site selection challenges and ecological aspects. Very few studies have however tried to understand how these different types of challenges specifically affect individual biogas projects. Also, no previous studies have identified where these challenges occur in the different phases of a project’s lifecycle (conceptualization, planning, and execution). A lack of understanding that limits the ability of both public institutions and project owners to ensure the success of biogas projects. The aim of this study is to fill this knowledge gap and provide a unique insight into the often very complex and long project lifecycle for the realization of centralized biogas projects. Results based on five comprehensive longitudinal case studies of attempts to realize centralized biogas projects, all taking place between 2008–2020 in Denmark, provide insight into how projects are specially affected by these different types of challenges, and shows that both successful and abandoned projects typically faced an array of challenges that project owners need to overcome. The study also from a bottom-up perspective provides insight into the implementation of national policies and initiatives assigned to the accelerated deployment of biogas technology in Denmark between 2008–2020 as well as critical factors at the local level driving the development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass for Energy: Challenges, Opportunities and Potential Solutions)

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Review

Jump to: Research

20 pages, 4100 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Biomass Potential and Utilization in Worldwide Research Trends—A Bibliometric Analysis

by Ardit Sertolli, Zoltán Gabnai, Péter Lengyel and Attila Bai

Sustainability 2022, 14(9), 5515; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14095515 - 04 May 2022

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 5104

Abstract

Biomass, as a part of renewables, is a resource found in large quantities and is a basis for many different industries. This paper presents the most important trends and characteristics of research in biomass potential and biomass utilization on a world scale. The main objective of this work is to analyze the state of research and trends in biomass potential and biomass utilization from 1974 to 2021, including 7117 relevant documents. The methodology part comprised two main stages: obtaining data from Scopus and then exporting the data into Excel. The VOSviewer bibliometric tool was used to analyze clusters of countries and groups of keywords. Research on this topic experienced significant development after 2000; moreover, the global trend of publications marked a significant increase after 2012. China and India have shown exponential growth, followed by USA, Germany, and UK. An important trend globally is that energy topics are gaining more importance and percentage annually, especially in photovoltaics and new generations of biofuels in terms of keywords. The paper aims to provide a tool for the scientific community by introducing the current state and potential tendencies in this special field, including the various sides of biomass use. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass for Energy: Challenges, Opportunities and Potential Solutions)

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