Research Priorities and Trends on Bioenergy: Insights from Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Replacing fossil fuels with bioenergy is crucial to achieving sustainable development and carbon neutrality. To determine the priorities and developing trends of bioenergy technology, related publications from 2000 to 2020 were analyzed using bibliometric method. Results demonstrated that the number of publications on bioenergy increased rapidly since 2005, and the average growth rate from 2005 to 2011 reached a maximum of 20% per year. In terms of publication quantity, impact, and international collaboration, the USA had been leading the research of bioenergy technology, followed by China and European countries. Co-occurrence analysis using author keywords identified six clusters about this topic, which are “biodiesel and transesterification”, “biogas and anaerobic digestion”, “bioethanol and fermentation”, “bio-oil and pyrolysis”, “microalgae and lipid”, and “biohydrogen and gasification or dark fermentation”. Among the six clusters, three of them relate to liquid biofuel, attributing that the liquid products of biomass are exceptional alternatives to fossil fuels for heavy transportation and aviation. Lignocellulose and microalgae were identified as the most promising raw materials, and pretreating technologies and efficient catalysts have received special attention. The sharp increase of “pyrolysis” and “gasification” from 2011 to 2020 suggested that those technologies about thermochemical conversion have been well studied in recent years. Some new research trends, such as applying nanoparticles in transesterification, and hydrothermal liquefaction in producing bio-oil from microalgae, will get a breakthrough in the coming years.