Innovative Biomass and Food Waste Pathways for Producing and Utilizing Hydrogen and Biomethane

The optimal emergence and appropriate management of hydrogen and biomass economies constitute a major avenue leading the way to greener economies and societies. Of particular significance for the dynamics of those critical change factors are the symbiotic relationships between hydrogen and biomass energy and other renewable energy, such as biomethane.

The global shift toward renewable energy sources is imperative to combat climate change and ensure energy security for future generations. Recent advancements have enhanced the efficiency and viability of specific pathways, including the Biomass-Hydrogen one, as well as biomethane.

The latter is easier to work with and has a greater sustainability profile compared to hydrogen since the fermentate can be put back into the agricultural system. Furthermore, resultant biomethane produced from food waste in landfill sites can be captured for use as a renewable energy source.

Currently up to one-third of food is wasted globally with major losses during processing; when landfilled, it emits methane, a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. Instead, food waste can be anaerobically digested to produce biomethane (renewable energy), and the resulting fermentate can be converted to biochar. This can be used as animal feed and it can also be applied to land – often with animal urine and faeces. This enriches the soil, improving water and nutrient retention and even crop quality, reducing reliance on synthetic fertilizers and some pesticides. This would allow farms to rely much less on harmful pesticides and fertilizers whose application with oil-powered machinery/vehicles is damaging to the environment. Likewise, methane wasted across oil refineries can also be captured. These practices would help farmers to transition to net regenerative agriculture.

Furthermore, while hydrogen produced from biomass holds significant promise as a renewable energy, comparative assessment with biomethane which may be derived from the same feedstocks can offer valuable insights for optimizing energy pathways, system integration, and broader environmental impacts.

Moreover, advances in engineering, catalytic processes, and integration with artificial intelligence now make it possible to maximize the value from organic waste streams while supporting climate action and resource circularity.

Goal:

This Research Topic will explore the often-neglected potential of food waste and other biomass sources as valuable feedstocks for bioenergy production, focusing on hydrogen and biomethane as both comparative and complementary approaches.

In parallel, we welcome papers on digestate-to-biochar pathways from food‑waste systems that support sustainable agriculture and reduce energy demands.

Scope and information for Authors:

We invite contributions covering, but not limited to the following subjects:

• Novel conversion technologies and catalysts for biomass-to-hydrogen conversion and biomethane production – specifically including, but not limited to food waste, agricultural residues, agro-industrial residues, forestry residues etc (excluding edible crop portions of corn, rice, and sugarcane, but including their non-food residues such as corn cobs, rice straw, and sugarcane bagasse).
• Lignin valorization and its sustainability aspects in biomass-to-hydrogen conversion pathways.
• Fermentative hydrogen production, as opposed to thermochemical hydrogen production.
• Approaches for integrating biomass-to-hydrogen pathways, as well as biomethane into existing energy systems, including digital tools, artificial intelligence, and optimization.
• Comparison of the two fuels, hydrogen and biomethane including environmental and socio-economic impacts related to their pathways from waste and residual biomass.
• Pathways that convert food waste to biomethane and processes that support net regenerative agriculture (e.g., using digestate/fermentate to create biochar), and reduce energy demands in agricultural systems, reflecting permaculture principles.
• We welcome submissions that underscore the processes, applications, risks, and benefits of hydrogen pathways, and studies showing how hydrogen can be used in society, in parallel with using bio methane.

Manuscripts focusing solely on other liquid, solid, or unrelated gaseous biofuels, or on food-related energy crops such as corn and sugarcane, without direct relevance to hydrogen, biomethane or biochar production, fall outside the scope of this Research Topic. We especially welcome papers that show how the above topics can accelerate the transition to equitable, sustainable, post-fossil fuel/carbon societies.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: biomass, hydrogen production, biomethane, green economy, renewable energy, biochar, net regenerative agriculture, food waste

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.