Advances in Biowaste to Bioenergy Production Approaches for Sustainable Development and Circular Bioeconomy: Volume II

Given the outstanding impact of 'Advances in Biowaste to Bioenergy Production Approaches for Sustainable Development and Circular Bioeconomy', Frontiers in Energy Research is pleased to launch Volume II of this successful Research TopicThe growing volume of biowastes, such as agricultural residues, agro-industrial by-products, food and municipal organic waste, lignocellulosic biomass, and algal residues, poses significant challenges for waste management, pollution control, greenhouse gas emissions, and resource depletion. At the same time, these biowastes are abundant, renewable resources rich in carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, lignin, and minerals, which can be converted into bioenergy, biofuels, biomaterials, chemicals, and other value-added products. Sustainable biowaste valorization supports renewable energy production, resource recovery, climate change mitigation, and progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Biowaste-to-bioenergy technologies, such as anaerobic digestion, fermentation, transesterification, pyrolysis, gasification, torrefaction, hydrothermal methods, liquefaction, and bioelectrochemical systems, have advanced considerably. Despite this progress, widespread adoption remains constrained because of factors such as feedstock variability, high moisture content, lignocellulosic recalcitrance, inhibitory compounds, inefficient conversion, microbial instability, energy-intensive pretreatment, complex processing, and economic limitations. Meeting these challenges requires integrated approaches, including refined feedstock characterization, advanced pretreatment, microbial and enzymatic engineering, process intensification, intelligent monitoring, resource recovery, and scalable system design.Building on the progress of Volume I, Volume II of Advances in Biowaste-to-Bioenergy Production Approaches for Sustainable Development and Circular Bioeconomy invites original contributions on advanced, integrated methods for efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective biowaste valorization. Submissions that incorporate nanotechnology, microbial and metabolic engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins, process modeling, techno-economic analysis (TEA), and life cycle assessment (LCA) are especially encouraged.This Research Topic welcomes studies on the conversion of various biowaste streams into renewable energy, fuels, chemicals, and value-added products using chemical, biochemical, bioelectrochemical, and thermochemical processes. Relevant methods include anaerobic digestion, fermentation, photobiological techniques, pyrolysis, gasification, liquefaction, and hydrothermal conversion. Studies that address sustainability, resource efficiency, process integration, economic viability, and scalability are particularly encouraged. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:* Bioethanol, biobutanol, biodiesel, biogas, biomethane, bio-CNG, biohydrogen, sustainable aviation fuels, and other renewable energy carriers derived from biowastes.* Physical, chemical, biological, enzymatic, thermochemical, hydrothermal, microwave, ultrasound, and plasma-assisted pretreatment and conversion technologies.* Anaerobic digestion and fermentation, including co-digestion, microbial consortia, syntrophic interactions, novel reactor configurations, inhibition mitigation, microbial engineering, and process optimization.* Pyrolysis, gasification, torrefaction, hydrothermal carbonization, and hydrothermal liquefaction for the production of biochar, hydrochar, bio-oil, syngas, and other value-added products.* Nanoparticles, nanocatalysts, immobilized enzymes, engineered microorganisms, synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and enzyme-assisted bioconversion for optimized biowaste conversion.* Microbial fuel cells, microbial electrolysis cells, microbial electrosynthesis, and integrated bioelectrochemical waste-treatment and energy-recovery systems.* AI, ML, IoT, digital twins, high-tech sensors, predictive modelling, intelligent process control, automation, anomaly detection, optimization, as well as data-driven process management and scale-up.* Integrated biorefineries and circular bioeconomy approaches, including cascading biomass utilization, nutrient and carbon recovery, digestate and biochar valorization, water recovery, co-production of energy and value-added products, and zero-waste strategies.* LCA, TEA, carbon footprinting, greenhouse-gas mitigation, carbon sequestration, environmental assessment, resource efficiency, pilot- and industrial-scale validation, commercialization, and pathways toward low-carbon and carbon-negative bioenergy systems.We invite original research, reviews, modeling and simulation studies, pilot- and industrial-scale demonstrations, techno-economic analyses (TEA), life cycle assessments (LCA), and integrated technology approaches. We especially welcome work that applies AI/ML, IoT, digital twins, high-tech sensors, intelligent control systems, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and process engineering to improve energy recovery, resource efficiency, environmental performance, economic feasibility, and scalability. Contributions that connect laboratory research alongside practical, sustainable, and commercially viable circular bioenergy systems are strongly encouraged. Topic editors: Nicholas Korres, Shiv Prasad, Anoop Singh Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82566/advances-in-biowaste-to-bioenergy-production-approaches-for-sustainable-development-and-circular-bioeconomy-volume-ii