Carbon-Neutral Engineering Solutions for Water Treatment and Soil Remediation

Rapid industrialization and urbanization have led to widespread water and soil contamination, posing severe threats to ecological security and public health. Meanwhile, global efforts toward carbon neutrality have placed urgent demands on developing low-carbon and sustainable environmental technologies. Traditional water treatment and soil remediation processes are often energy-intensive and carbon-emitting, which conflicts with long-term climate goals. In recent years, green chemical engineering approaches have emerged as promising solutions to balance pollutant removal efficiency with carbon reduction. This Research Topic focuses on innovative carbon-neutral engineering strategies for water treatment and soil remediation, aiming to highlight advanced materials, energy-saving processes, and circular technologies that support sustainable environmental governance under the carbon neutrality agenda.The urgent pursuit of global carbon neutrality coincides with growing challenges in water pollution control and contaminated soil remediation. Conventional environmental engineering technologies often rely on energy-intensive processes, resulting in substantial carbon footprints that undermine climate targets. Meanwhile, many existing approaches prioritize pollutant removal efficiency over low-carbon operation, circular resource utilization, and long-term sustainability. This Research Topic aims to address the critical gap between effective environmental remediation and carbon reduction goalsIt seeks to collect innovative, carbon-neutral engineering solutions that advance water treatment and soil remediation with minimized energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. By integrating novel materials, green process design, bioremediation strategies, and process optimization, this topic intends to highlight scalable, practical technologies that balance high remediation performance with low-carbon development. Ultimately, it aims to promote interdisciplinary progress toward sustainable and climate-friendly environmental engineering.We welcome submissions on topics including but not limited to: • Low-carbon technologies and carbon-neutral pathways for water treatment and soil remediation;• Pollutant removal mechanisms, transport, and transformation in contaminated soil and special soil environments;• Innovative materials e.g. biochar, processes, and systems for energy-efficient and low-carbon environmental remediation• Sustainable engineering design and optimization for water purification and soil remediation• Field applications, pilot-scale tests, and performance evaluation of low-carbon remediation technologies• Interdisciplinary studies combining environmental engineering, soil science, and green chemistry• Life cycle assessments and techno economic assessments of presented strategies Topic editors: Zhaofeng Li, Ying Li Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81048/carbon-neutral-engineering-solutions-for-water-treatment-and-soil-remediation