A review of biofuel and biochemical production from forest and agricultural wastes

Abstract

Utilization of fuels and chemicals from fossil fuel and its derivatives have some disadvantages. Forest and agricultural wastes such as wood wastes are potential resources for the production of chemicals and biofuels. These wastes are lignocellulosic materials which are cheap, renewable and their conversion to bio-based chemicals contributes to resource and environmental conservation. Application of various conversion methods could convert these wastes to myriad of industrial chemical products, platform chemicals, biofuel and other products. The major obstacle in processing these wastes into chemicals is the recalcitrant nature of lignin and the compact structure of these materials. Pretreatment of these waste materials remains a valid option to fracture their recalcitrance and improve the yield of products obtainable from their conversion. In this article, the sources of wastes useable for production of biofuel and biochemicals were discussed. The article also x-rayed the mode of conversion and the types of biofuel and biochemicals obtainable from these wastes. Notably, conversion of these wastes encourages greener environment and lessens the effect of fossil fuel and its derivatives on climate change.

Keywords: Wastes, pretreatment, biofuel, fossil fuel, lignin.