Current Status and Challenges of Biofuel Sector

Biofuel production from different kinds of biomass has gained attention in the last few decades due to its low adverse environmental impact. Biofuels are classified as first generation, second generation, third generation, and fourth generation on the basis of the type of biomass used in the production process. Ethanol is the major biofuel on the basis of production and consumption in various countries for transportation, used as blends with gasoline. The United States is the principal ethanol producer all around the world. Other biofuels include hydrogen, methane, methanol, butanol, etc. Transformation of biomass to biofuel is a multistep process having a number of advantages and drawbacks at each step. Literature shows the continuous efforts of researchers to overcome the hurdles of the biofuel sector faced during pretreatment, microbial isolation and management, manufacturing cost, co-product production, fuel extraction, and utilization of leftovers. This chapter analyzes the diversity in the current status of the production of various biofuels in different countries and the challenges of the biofuel sector.