ABSTRACT
Biofuels are defined as the source of energy derived from living cells by the degradation of either lignocellulosic or cellulosic biomass to produce ethanol and diesel. Fuels that are generated with the help of microorganisms by fermentation are called bioethanol and biodiesel. As petroleum consumption increases, demand for fuel also increases. Biofuels are becoming an integral part of daily life. Traditional sources of energy are oil, coal, fossil fuels, and petroleum. These are not enough to reach sustainability for the long term and rapid consumption is going to create a scarcity of conventional sources of energy. The increasing population and the resultant consumption will create a shortage of fossils in the future. The main problem associated with the traditional source of energy is that it takes decades to renew itself. Therefore, they are non-renewable, produce more pollution during consumption, but are cost-effective; preferring biofuel over traditional fuel is a highly recommendable approach. There are several renewable sources of energy including biofuel, bioethanol, biohydrogen, biodiesel, geothermal, tidal energies, wind energies, solar energy, fuel cells, etc. There are certain limitations for sources of energy and need to address an alternative source to replace with cheap and feasible fuel. In this chapter, the main key points will be emphasised with regard to the status of biofuels, strategies, and problems linked with biomass conversion to biofuel with the best possible Omics technology solutions, which have been widely used in the development of biofuels. Omics technology, including genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, has the potential to improve biogas production by identifying key microbial communities and metabolic pathways involved in the anaerobic digestion process. In India, a lot of cellulose waste is generated as it has huge tracts of agricultural land. It will be a suitable option for bioethanol generation by enzymes like cellulases, xylanases, and pectinases, which will be converting the lignocellulosic waste into biomass/biofuel. Apart from this, India has the longest coastal line that can be exploited for algae-based biodiesel production.
