Key Development Factors of Hydrothermal Processes in Germany by 2030: A Fuzzy Logic Analysis

The Contributions of Biomass Supply for Bioenergy in the Post-COVID-19 Recovery

This research investigates how biomass supply chains (BSChs) for bioenergy within the broader bioeconomy could contribute to the post-COVID-19 recovery in three dimensions: boosting economic growth, creating jobs, and building more resilient and cleaner energy systems in four future scenarios, in the short term (by 2023) and long term (by 2030). A SWOT analysis on BSChs was used for generating a questionnaire for foresight by a two-round Delphi study. To interpret the results properly, a short survey and literature review is executed to record BSChs behavior during the pandemic. In total, 23 (55% response rate) and 28 (46% response rate) biomass experts from three continents participated in the Delphi and the short survey, respectively. The strongest impact from investment in BSChs would be on economic growth, followed by a contribution to the resilient and cleaner energy systems and job creation. The effects would be more visible in the long- than in the short-term period. Investments with the most impact on recovery are those that improve biomass material efficiency and circularity. Refurbishment of current policies to enhance the supply of biomass as a renewable resource to the future economy is a must.

New Intensification Strategies for the Direct Conversion of Real Biomass into Platform and Fine Chemicals: What Are the Main Improvable Key Aspects?

Nowadays, the solvothermal conversion of biomass has reached a good level of development, and now it is necessary to improve the process intensification, in order to boost its further growth on the industrial scale. Otherwise, most of these processes would be limited to the pilot scale or, even worse, to exclusive academic investigations, intended as isolated applications for the development of new catalysts. For this purpose, it is necessary to improve the work-up technologies, combining, where possible, reaction/purification unit operations, and enhancing the feedstock/liquid ratio, thus improving the final concentration of the target product and reducing the work-up costs. Furthermore, it becomes decisive to reconsider more critically the choice of biomass, solvent(s), and catalysts, pursuing the biomass fractionation in its components and promoting one-pot cascade conversion routes. Screening and process optimization activities on a laboratory scale must be fast and functional to the flexibility of these processes, exploiting efficient reaction systems such as microwaves and/or ultrasounds, and using multivariate analysis for an integrated evaluation of the data. These upstream choices, which are mainly of the chemist’s responsibility, are fundamental and deeply interconnected with downstream engineering, economic, and legislative aspects, which are decisive for the real development of the process. In this Editorial, all these key issues will be discussed, in particular those aimed at the intensification of solvothermal processes, taking into account some real case studies, already developed on the industrial scale.

Resources, Collaborators, and Neighbors: The Three-Pronged Challenge in the Implementation of Bioeconomy Regions

Over the last decade, the bioeconomy has become increasingly important and visible in international policy agendas, with several strategies being recently developed. The implementation of bio-based technologies mostly takes place on a regional scale. Therefore, from a regional perspective, a key question revolves around what main challenges are associated with technological developments that could catalyze the implementation of sustainable bioeconomy regions. In this study, a cross-cutting analysis was carried out to determine these challenges. First, interviews were conducted with industry practitioners and scientists working in the bioeconomy field. These interviews were supplemented with a literature review to determine the status quo of bioeconomy strategies and their implementation, particularly on a regional level. A multidisciplinary workshop was then organized to identify the most relevant challenges in the short- and mid-term associated with establishing bioeconomy regions. The results show that there is a three-pronged challenge in innovative technological development from a regional perspective: (1) Resources: The establishment of sustainable regional feedstock strategies and supplies for supporting the bio-industrial sector; (2) collaborators: The establishment of a regional “critical mass” by fostering supply chain clusters and networks; and (3) neighbors: Understanding the local dynamics of societal trends and preferences and social acceptance of bio-technologies and their representative bio-based products.

Conceptualization and Development of a DFuzzy Model for Low-Carbon Ecocities

The Industrial Revolution has enabled mechanization to lead the manufacturing industry into a new era of explosive economic growth. Mass production through the use of machines has improved the overall societal prosperity in industrialized countries. The great and continuous demand of mechanization, economic growth, and energy consumption has resulted in the excessive use of natural resources and the mining of natural energy deposits. Challenges such as serious environmental pollution, ecological damage, and climate change have been identified as some of the critical issues for sustainable development. Therefore, this paper proposes a Delphi and Fuzzy (DFuzzy) model in order to institute low-carbon ecocities. DFuzzy is a scientific decision-making model with quantitative multiple attributes and artificial intelligence. Twelve specialists from the Delphi experts were interviewed, including chief executive officers (CEOs) of industries, management committee members, and senior academics, all of whom have 15 years of experience in urban planning practice. After a three-round Delphi process with 17 criteria that were taken from the literature, four criteria of the DFuzzy model were recognized by experts: policy norms, resident cooperation, pollution prevention and control, and ecological reserves. The practical application of the DFuzzy model took three areas as examples: the Baiyun District and Conghua District of Guangzhou City, and the Dahu Community of Kaohsiung City. Through the experts’ consensus in the two-round Delphi process, the four criteria, as the input basis, demonstrated the objective quantitative calculation function of the DFuzzy model and also indicated that the model established in this study provides a reference for evaluating low-carbon ecocities.