Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass for Biofuel Production

By: Pratima Bajpai

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Synopsis: The book describes the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomassfor biomass-to-biofuel conversion processes, which is an important step inincreasing ethanol production for biofuels. It also highlights the mainchallenges and suggests possible ways to make these technologies feasible for the biofuel industry. Thebiological conversion of cellulosic biomass into bioethanol is based on thechemical and biological breakdown of biomass into aqueous sugars, for exampleusing hydrolytic enzymes. The fermentable sugars can then be further processedinto ethanol or other advanced biofuels. Pretreatment is required to break downthe lignin structure and disrupt the crystalline structure of cellulose so thatthe acids or enzymes can easily access and hydrolyze the cellulose. Pre-treatment can be the most expensive process in converting biomass to fuel,but there is great potential for improving the efficiency and lowering coststhrough further research and development. This book is aimed at academics andindustrial practitioners who are interested in the higher production of ethanolfor biofuels.