BMC Biotechnology welcomes submissions to the Collection Biotechnological applications for the production of biofuels and bioenergy. Fossil fuels (i.e. coal, oil and gas) largely contribute to global climate change due to their impact on global greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions. Rising energy prices and depleting reserves of fossil fuels add further societal relevance in using and developing alternative, renewable energy sources. In this context, biofuels derived from renewable feedstocks have the potential to be a ‘green alternative’ (i.e. sustainable and environmentally friendly) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as our dependence from fossil fuels. Plants, (micro)algae and microorganisms represent promising biological systems with unique bioenergetic and biochemical abilities that can be leveraged to produce biomass and biofuels.
While biofuels and bioenergy offer several benefits to our society and the environment, and there is much excitement about their potential, much work is still required to develop novel technologies, applications and approaches that ensure the sustainability, quality, cost-effectiveness and scaling up of their production process. For instance, major advances in the development of novel bioprocessing technologies in biorefineries and farming practices, or genetic engineering of biological systems and microbial cell factories, might hold the key to enhance and scale up biofuel and bioenergy production.
To explore the current technological progress, applications and challenges of biofuels and bioenergy research, the Editors of BMC Biotechnology announce the launch of a Collection on Biotechnological applications for the production of biofuels and bioenergy. This collection supports and aligns with the objectives of The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7, ‘Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all’) and 13 (SDG 13, ‘Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts’), aiming to promote the use of sustainable green energy and combat climate change. The collection will emphasize on the emerging research and biotechnological applications to develop and improve plant, (micro)algal, microbial and biological conversion systems for the production of biofuels and bioenergy. We invite researchers and experts in the field to submit research articles that explore, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- Sustainable production of biofuels and bioenergy from plant, (micro)algal, microbial, and biological conversion systems
- Molecular mechanisms and regulation of biochemical and metabolic traits applied to enhance biofuel and bioenergy production in biological systems
- Microbial cell factories for sustainable production of biofuels and bioenergy
- Emerging biotechnological applications to improve the production of biofuels and bioenergy
- Nanotechnology applications for the production of biofuels
- Genetic and metabolic engineering for biofuel production
- Engineering of plant cell wall to enhance biofuel production
- Multi-Omics and genome editing technologies, and synthetic biology approaches to improve biofuel and bioenergy production
- Bioelectrochemistry of microbial cells and bioelectrochemical systems for biofuels and bioenergy
- Artificial photosynthetic systems (e.g. hybrids of semiconductor-microbial cells) for solar-to-biofuels/bioenergy conversion
- Microbial fermentation technologies and scaling-up for biomass and biofuel production
- Advances and applications in algal biomass production and utilization for biofuels and high-value bioproducts
- Novel harvesting and extraction methods from microbial biomass to produce biofuels and high-value compounds
- Advances in algal cultivation techniques, bioreactors, and process optimization for biomass production
- Biotechnological applications for conversion processes, bioprocesses, farming practices and technologies applied to the production of biofuels and bioenergy
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