ABSTRACT
The unprecedented growth of human population has led to an alarming increase in the global food and energy demands. With the scarcity of non-renewable energy sources and the rising concerns over the climate change, there is an urgent need to develop alternate renewable and sustainable fuels. In this scenario, the current trends of biofuel production are increasing rapidly and show promising results. At present, most of the feedstocks used for biofuel production are grown on arable lands, thus competing with the food crops. On the other hand, the yields of advanced biofuels produced using agricultural or industrial wastes are too low to compete with the existing fossil fuel-based economy. Molecular biology approaches can aid in improving the biofuel production by developing new improved mutant strains with higher titer, yield and productivities. The use of synthetic biology has paved the way for fabricating or synthesizing new pathways and genetic constructs that would help in reducing the costs of biofuel production processes. In this chapter, various genetic and metabolic engineering tools are described that have been used so far for advanced biofuel production. In addition, the existing and future challenges imposed by the use of such complex biological systems are examined.
