Abstract
With the current declining petroleum resources, combined with increased demand for petroleum by emerging economies, and political and environmental concerns about fossil fuels, it is imperative to develop economical and energy efficient processes for the sustainable production of fuels. Plant biomass is the only current sustainable source of organic carbon, and biofuels derived from biomass, are the only current sustainable source of liquid fuels. The biomass resources are the organic matters in which the solar energy is stored in chemical bounds, and it represents the fourth largest primary energy resource in the world after coal, crude oil and gas. The purpose of this article is to discuss current methods and future possibilities for obtaining transportation fuels from biomass.
Biofuels generate significantly less greenhouse gas emissions than do fossil fuels and can even be greenhouse gas neutral if efficient methods for biofuels production are developed. This paper focuses on biomass conversion into fuel by reviewing the production, characteristics and current statuses of first and second generation fuels. The first generation biofuels seems to create some skepticism among scientists. The main disadvantage of first generation biofuels is the food-versus-fuel debate, one of the reasons for rising food prices is due to the increase in the production of these fuels. Therefore, lignocellulosic feedstock can offer the potential to provide novel biofuel. Second generation biofuels produced from plant biomass refers largely to lignocellulosic materials, as this makes up the majority of the cheap and abundant non food materials available from plants. However, for the time being, the production of such biofuels is not cost effective because there are a number of technical barriers that need to be overcome before their potential can be exploited. Biochemical and thermo chemical processes and their major steps involved during first and second generation biofuels production from biomass have been discussed in detail.
Keywords: Biofuels, biomass, biodiesel, bio-ethanol, syngas.