A review on first- and second- generation biofuel productions

Abstract

Renewable energy resources are in great urge to reduce dependability on fossil fuels as well as to minimize greenhouse gas emission. Since more than a decade, biofuel industries especially bioethanol and biodiesel have been highly expanding in conjugation with agriculture crop production. First generation biofuel production is highly relied on the agriculture crops such as corn, sugarcane, sugar beets, soybean, and canola. Therefore, inherent competition between foods versus fuels remained debatable in the society from the last few years. Current technological advances in the research and development opened an avenue for next-generation biofuel production from different feedstock such as agriculture waste products, crop residues, and cellulosic biomass from high-yielding grass species. This review explains the current status of first-generation biofuel production and their challenges at net energy benefit as well as competition of feedstock for food and fuel production. This chapter also focuses on recent advances in research and development of the second-generation biofuel production from different feedstocks. Future direction of agriculture industries and energy industries has been discussed to feed the ever-increasing world population and to fuel the world's highest energy demanding sector, transportation.