Agro-waste as a Potential Feedstock for Biofuel Production

The depletion of many non-renewable natural resources at an alarming rate and its impact on global warming has caused growing concern worldwide. The current situation calls for appropriate and effective measures to expedite the exploration and application of alternative renewable energy resources. One such potential renewable energy resource is biofuels derived from biomass. Agricultural waste residue or agro-waste can be potential feedstock for production of different biofuels such as bioethanol, biobutanol, biodiesel, biohydrogen, etc. Principle agro-waste residue include rice straw, wheat straw, sugarcane bagasse, corn stover etc., due to their generation across the globe as the principal crop plants, and low nutritional content of the remnants, thus settling fuel verses feed debate. The recalcitrant nature of lignocellulosic biomass components makes pre-treatment an essential step. Various pre-treatment approaches such as physical, chemical, physicochemical, and biological techniques remove recalcitrant components from biomass such as lignin, and makes cellulose more amenable towards saccharification, thus high-end fermentation to ethanol product.