Virtual Special Issue of Recent Research Advances in China: Thermochemical Processing of Biomass and Solid Wastes

Abstract

The rapid depletion of fossil fuels and the growing concerns over environmental sustainability call for the exploitation of renewable carbon resources. The past 2 decades have witnessed rapid development of the production of fuels, chemicals, and other products from biomass and organic solid wastes via both thermochemical and biochemical processes. Thermochemical processes, such as combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, hydrothermal processing, and solvent liquefaction, have been developed as promising routes for the green, lowcost, and sustainable utilization of biomass and organic wastes. In the past 20 years, China has made significant progress in research and development (R&D) related to thermochemical processing of biomass and solid wastes, including fundamental reaction mechanisms and kinetics, lab- and demonstrationscale reactor design and operation, complex modeling, and process simulation. Globally, China is one of the most active countries to present cutting-edge research, interdisciplinary and original study, and emerging growth areas related to technologies for processing biomass and solid wastes. This has been the motivation for the publication of the current virtual special issue (VSI) “Recent Research Advances in China: Thermochemical Processing of Biomass and Solid Wastes”. This VSI aims at reporting a summary of the latest advances and trends of R&D on thermochemical processing of biomass and solid wastes in China. It focuses on mostly thermochemical processing of biomass and solid wastes related topics, including (1) experimental studies on thermochemical processes, including but not limited to combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, hydrothermal processing, and solvent liquefaction, (2) computational modeling of thermochemical processes, (3) techno-economic and life cycle assessment of thermochemical processes, and (4) fundamental research and technological development on hybrid processes, including those intersecting with the use of solar energy. A large number of submissions were received as part of this VSI. All submissions have been subjected to the usual screening within the editorial office and subsequent rigirous peer review process. Upon the completion of the whole editorial process, a total of 29 papers (including 9 reviews and 20 original articles) have been finally accepted for publication in this VSI, as listed in Table 1. This VSI compiles a list of reviews and original articles describing the latest fundamental research and technology development in thermochemical processing of biomass and solid wastes, with the concise synopsis of each paper given below.