Editorial preface: VSI ‘Algae and biological residues in South-East Asia for sustainable energy production’

Global population growth has inevitably depleted conventional energy sources, particularly non-renewable fossil fuels. The conundrum arises in finding sustainable energy sources that could potentially offset the demands while assuaging the pollution stemming from the exploitation of fossil fuels. In this regard, continuous efforts have been made in recent years from almost every part of the world to identify sustainable energy sources that could at least power up local consumption. And so, energy derived from bioresources such as biodiesel, bioethanol and bio-oil is virtually perpetual, considering its rapid renewability. Moreover, the bioelectricity harvested from biological processes via microorganisms' metabolisms has recently gained prominence. Besides sustainability, exploiting bioresources could also offer an economical, practical and efficient alternative for retrofitting into the existing applications. However, prior to the implementations, inclusive investigations are deemed essential to mitigate the unforeseen menaces that may unhinge the environmental balances. This special issue entitled ‘Algae and Biological Residues in South-East Asia for Sustainable Energy Production’ encompasses green energy sources derived from both macroalgal and microalgal biomasses as well as enormous bioresidues generated from agricultural industries in South-East Asia and adjacent countries. The special issue's interests also include various advanced methods and processes employed to intensify the energy that could be ultimately harvested from the renewable feedstock produced in this geographical region. Accordingly, unconventional hydrothermal and catalytic conversions are explored among the technologies to produce more lipids from biomass, serving as the biodiesel feedstock. The density functional theory is also adopted to predict the adsorption of greenhouse gases by biochar fabricated from local seaweed biomass. Moreover, the biological metabolic conversion also plays the role of valorising mixed microalgae and biomass residue to produce biodiesel. In addition to sustainable energy production, other specialities and essential biochemicals derived from various biomasses are covered in this special issue, with several reviews ending with the decarbonization process to assuage the climate change impacts.

The Guest Editors would like to express their sincere acknowledgements to Professor Patricia Thornley (Editor-in-Chief of Biomass and Bioenergy), Dr. Chunfei Wu (Managing Editor), Ms. Vaishali Subramanian (Senior Journal Manager), Ms. Hannah Zhang (Associate Publishing Content Specialist) and the team for their advice and support in the yielding this Special Issue a success. The Guest Editors also thank all the authors for submitting their excellent works and the reviewers for valuable comments/suggestions. Without these contributions, this Special Issue could not have been successfully accomplished.