Biomass: Resources and Sustainable Utilization

Biomass is a renewable organic material derived from living organisms such as plants, animals, microorganisms, and algae including food and agricultural wastes, municipal waste, animal waste, forestry residues, and waste from industries such as wood, paper, and food. Biomass is used as a fuel source even before the utilization of fossil fuels. Biomass is widely available and is chemically diverse in nature. These resources can be used as feedstock for the production of biofuels and an assortment of biochemicals. This chapter will discuss different types of biomass resources, structural components, characteristic features, and properties. Further, the chapter will deal with strategies and technologies for utilization of the biomass resources as raw material for bioenergy and the production of different commodity biochemicals and value-added products. Biomass pre-processing for effective conversion into products will also be addressed. Rising applications of biomass with reference to biomaterials and valorization of biomass waste will be focused. The challenges associated with biomass utilization will also be discussed.