Feedstock availability, composition, new potential resources for biohydrogen, biomethane, and biobutanol production via biotechnological routes

Booming population, higher standard of living, and growing industrialization continue to exert a demand for energy. The continuous and unlimited use of fossil fuels to meet the growing energy demand would deplete the finite oil reserves, and have detrimental environmental impacts causing global warming and climate change. Given the present circumstances and future projections, it is imperative that an alternative sustainable fuel source is identified. Biofuels, produced from biomass, are a good substitute to conventional fuels. Based on the feedstock used for biofuel production, biofuel can be classified into first, second-, or third-generation biofuels. Production of second-generation biofuels from non-food feedstock needs to deal with the challenges associated with the complexity of biomass, issues related to producing, harvesting, and transporting less-dense biomass to centralized biorefineries. The third generation is yet to dominate the society due to various environmental and technological issues. This chapter discusses the need for increased focus on biofuel production, various feedstock options for biofuel production and specifically discusses the biotechnological options for conversion of biomass to bioenergy such as biomethane, biohydrogen, and biobutanol.