Abstract
Depletion of fossil fuels and environmental concern has impelled to search
for alternative biofuels and biobased chemicals. Biofuels have been considered an
alternative clean energy carrier due to their environmentally friendly nature. Recently,
research has been focused on finding a readily available, low-cost and renewable
lignocellulosic biomass to produce value-added products. In this context, the plant-derived organic wastes can be transformed to produce biofuels (bioethanol, biobutanol,
biogas and biohydrogen) and biochemicals (lactic acid, succinic acid, xylose and
xylitol). It will be a sustainable effort to reduce the huge amount of plant waste
generated. In addition, in the recent decades, several efficient conversion methods have
been invented.
During the past few years, a large number of chemical pretreatment methods have also
been developed for efficient lignocellulosic conversion. The current chapter discusses
the advanced methods for biofuels and biochemicals’ production, focusing primarily on
different pretreatment methods for effective conversion of plant derived wastes.