Scaling Up Sustainable Biofuels for a Low-Carbon Future

Abstract

Fossil fuels oil, coal, and gas are valuable resources that are depleting day by day around the world and also imparting a negative impact on the environment. Biofuel because of its dynamic properties; its market values; and being sustainable, renewable, biodegradable, economic, non-pollutant, and abundant is an alternate source of energy. Each country can produce it independently, and because of these valuable properties biofuels have become superior over fossil fuels. This chapter gives a concise preface to biofuels and its impact on the environment. It includes definitions; classifications; impact on environment; implications; types of production techniques like chemical, biochemical, physical, and thermochemical techniques; types of resources like lignocellulosic-biomass, feedstock energy crops, algae, micro-algae, all kinds of solid wastes; and biofuels of prime importance like solid biofuels (biochar, solid biomass), gaseous biofuels (biogas, bio-syngas, and bio-hydrogen), and the most important liquid biofuels (bioethanol, biodiesel, and bio-oil). Due to increasing global warming and climate-changing conditions, in the near future biofuel being an environment-friendly resource of energy will be a substantial part of the world’s energy demand, with no or zero polluting agents.