Sustainable Biomass Supply Integration – Call for papers in Special Issue of Energies

Aug 2021
Bulletins

The Guest Editors – members of IEA Bioenergy Task 43 (Biomass Supply) – invite submissions to a Special Issue of Energies, entitled “Sustainable Biomass Supply Integration for Bioenergy within the Broader Bioeconomy”.

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2021.

Modern bioenergy plays an essential role in the International Energy Agency 2°C Scenario (2DS), providing nearly 17% of the final energy demand for 2060 compared to 4.5% in 2015; current bioenergy deployment in the transport, electricity and heat sectors is well below the levels required to follow the 2DS trajectory. At the same time, many other sectors of the economy are increasingly looking to biomass as a sustainable supply of low-carbon construction materials, chemicals and fibres to replace fossil fuels with renewable feedstocks to mitigate global climate change. Bioeconomy conceptualises the development, mobilisation and use of renewable carbon sources for a range of applications, depicting bioenergy as one of several uses of resources, either as the primary purpose or following a cascading approach.

To sustainably support the repositioning of biomass supply for bioenergy within the broader bioeconomy, significant advances in the methods, technologies and systems deployed for biomass production, supply and logistics are needed. The provision of available biomass must increase through improved production and mobilisation systems, greater and more efficient use of residue streams, better overall recovery of available biomass, and resource efficiency in all sectors.

This publication will focus on the above issues and will accept contributions that consider, but are not limited to, the following topics of interest:

  • Sustainable integrated land management strategies contributing to increased biomass mobilisation in existing and emerging agriculture and forestry lignocellulosic systems.
  • Biomass crops showing potential to deliver increased biomass volume while contributing a feedstock that improves the quality and value of the biomass, as required by given bioenergy technologies.
  • Opportunities to contribute new biomass sources aiming to improve the quality and value of the overall supply chain and lower quality residue feedstocks.
  • Innovative biomass supply chain and logistics systems that efficiently recover and deliver higher quality biomass for multiple products and markets, including bioenergy.
  • Quality drivers for the biomass supply of different bioenergy technologies.
  • Emerging bioeconomy supply chain and logistics systems to develop integrated solutions for the production and supply of higher quality biomass.
  • Shared views on strategies to increase the quantity, quality, value and reliability of biomass supply and logistics.
  • Improved knowledge of the socioeconomic values of biomass crops as a part of local, regional and national renewable energy strategies.
  • Scale and scope of different biomass crops that can economically service a given bioenergy market/demand.
  • Key drivers of sustainability for biomass crops and supply chains.
  • Best practices and innovative solutions of existing commercial biomass supply chains.
  • The role of the preprocessing or pretreatment of biomass at different points in the supply chain to increase its value and quality for certain technologies.

Prof. Dr. Ioannis Dimitriou
Prof. Dr. Mark Brown
Dr. Biljana Kulisic
Prof. Dr. Evelyne Thiffault
Guest Editors

More info available here: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies/special_issues/sustainable_biomass_supply_integration