Work

Hybrid Energy Systems Integrating Biofuels and Renewable Sources: Enhancing Energy Conversion Efficiency Through System Optimization and Intelligent Control

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The increasing penetration of variable solar and wind generation requires flexible resources capable of improving energy balancing, reliability, and renewable energy utilization. This review critically assesses biofuel-integrated hybrid energy systems as complementary architectures for renewable energy integration, connecting system configuration, energy conversion efficiency, storage and dispatch, intelligent control, environmental performance, and scalability. A critical narrative and integrative approach was applied using literature retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science, and organized across solar–bioenergy, wind–bioenergy, multi-source, storage-supported, microgrid, and multi-energy configurations. The evidence indicates that biomass-derived fuels can provide dispatchable and storable renewable energy that complements variable generation and supports decentralized and multi-energy applications. However, no architecture is universally superior, and greater hybridization does not inherently result in higher thermodynamic efficiency. Performance depends strongly on resource complementarity, feedstock availability and quality, conversion pathways, storage requirements, and operating strategy. Advanced energy management, model predictive control, machine learning, and digital twins can improve system coordination, although much of the available evidence remains simulation-based or limited in experimental scale. Environmental benefits are likewise pathway- and boundary-dependent, particularly when avoided emissions, coproduct allocation, infrastructure, and feedstock supply chains are considered. Overall, biofuel-integrated hybrid systems represent an application-dependent flexibility option rather than a universally optimal solution; future progress requires dynamic uncertainty-aware modeling, harmonized techno-economic and life-cycle assessment, and greater pilot- and industrial-scale validation.

Source: Processes

DOI: 10.3390/pr14182894

Authors: Cristian Laverde-Albarracín, Sergio Nogales-Delgado, Juan Félix González-González, Sebastian Naranjo-Silva, Carlos David Amaya-Jaramillo

Institutions: Universidad Ecotec, Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, Universidad de Extremadura, Escuela Superior Politécnica Agropecuaria de Manabí Manuel Félix López

Language: English

Topic: Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems

Subfield: Energy Engineering and Power Technology

Field: Energy

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Affordable and clean energy, Climate action

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,896