ABSTRACT

According to the factsheet released by the International Energy Agency (2006), fossil fuels account for about 80.3% of the primary energy consumed worldwide, with 57.7% being used in transportation sector alone. e global energy system continues to face a major crisis worldwide, and the primary energy demand is assumed to increase 37% by 2040 (International Energy Agency, 2014). Sustainable development of the humankind needs the production of renewable energy at aordable costs. Biofuels represent sustainable and renewable sources of energy, which when burnt emit reduced levels of particulates, carbon oxides, and sulfur oxides and, therefore, hold promise as the ideal fuels of the future to completely replace the petroleum fuels. Biofuels have been produced from starch and vegetable oils. Innovations in biocatalysis and advanced biochemical processes have contributed to the launch of bioreneries using biomass as a source of sugars for the production of second-generation or so-called advanced biofuels. Numerous biocatalytic approaches have focused on the use of biomass sugars for the production of biofuels such as ethanol (Taherzadeh and Karimi, 2007; Singhania et al., 2013), butanol (Qureshi et al., 2008a,b), and hydrogen (Zhang et al., 2007). Biocatalysts allow the use of unrened feedstock, including waste oil, without the need to separate free fatty acids that may be present in large amounts in the feedstock (Nielsen et al., 2008). is chapter attempts to provide a comprehensive review on enzymes with potential applications in biofuel industry, particularly for the generation of alcohol fuels, biohydrogen, and biodiesel. Various advances in biocatalysis for biofuel production have been highlighted.