ABSTRACT
The growing concerns over the depletion of fossil fuels and the global environmental issues have triggered the search for an alternate renewable and sustainable fuel. In this respect, biofuels have gained considerable research interest owing to the worldwide distribution of biomass. Energy production using biomass is not a new concept because it has been used for domestic heat and electricity generation for ages. The current research, however, is targeted towards developing clean and inexpensive means of biomass conversion processes. Various biomasses ranging from simple crops and residues to the agricultural and industrial wastes have been used for energy production. At present, bioethanol and biodiesel are the only forms of biofuels that are being produced successfully at the commercial scale. However, with the latest development of genetic and metabolic engineering tools, several advancements are underway to make the biofuel production process more efficient. This chapter provides an up--date review of the various biomasses that have been used for biofuel production so far and illustrates the existing conversion technologies for effective biofuel production. Also, the technological and economic barriers that limit the practical feasibility of large-scale biofuel production have been described in detail.
