ABSTRACT
Second-generation biofuel production is a necessary process in a way to get rid of the agricultural waste produced on farmlands. The more the agriculture waste is produced, the more it becomes necessary for it to be disposed off in a suitable manner, else it will lead to air pollution resulting from its indiscriminate burning and other modes of improper disposal. But the currently the existing technologies face challenges either with respect to sustainability or with respect to technology. The thermochemical conversions emit higher GHG emissions and therefore isn’t an option worth considering when sustainability measures are taken into account. Whereas the biochemical conversions lack efficiency at many steps, lignin removal from the biomass for easing the conversion of the cellulosic and hemicellulosic material into simpler sugars, feedback inhibition at the hydrolysis step by the cellobiose formed, and lastly at the fermentation step if some of the products are acidic in the preceding step. Further, the use of mesophilic enzymes for the conversion of biomass into simpler sugars brings many factors in one frame, i.e., the chances of potential contamination from the surrounding environment is very high; efficiency wise it is less stable at higher temperatures, which is usually required for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass. Thermophilic microbes seem to be a viable option for all such biochemical challenges put in frame by mesophilic microbes. The thermophilic microbes not only defer the chances of ambient environmental contamination but also lead to the enhancement in the rate of reaction during hydrolysis.
