Topic > The future of plant biomass - 571

The continuing depletion of fossil fuel resources and their growing demand has changed the perspective from ancient fuel resources to new resources, especially plant-based biomass. Plant biomass is a promising feedstock for fuel production to support fuel needs in the modern era. Basically biofuel nowadays can be divided into first generation and second generation depending on the type of biomass used. Biofuels derived from sugars, oils, cereals, sugarcane and starch are classified as first-generation fuels, while the use of lignocellulosic biomass such as softwood and hardwood, agricultural waste, straw and corn stalks provides second-generation fuels. generation [1].NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), The United States reported that approximately 5 billion gallons/year of ethanol was produced using food grains in 2010, and 8 billion gallons/year is expected to be produced in 2015 of ethanol with the use of lignocellulosic biomass. The main constituents of biomass containing sugar polymers are cellulose and hemicelluloses while lignin forms a protective coating against various agents...