Agro-industrial lignocellulosic biomass a key to unlock the future bio-energy: A brief review

From the last several years, in serious consideration of the worldwide economic and environmental pollution issues there has been increasing research interest in the value of bio-sourced lignocellulosic biomass. Agro-industrial biomass comprised on lignocellulosic waste is an inexpensive, renewable, abundant and provides a unique natural resource for large-scale and cost-effective bio-energy collection. To expand the range of natural bio-resources the rapidly evolving tools of biotechnology can lower the conversion costs and also enhance target yield of the product of interest. In this background green biotechnology presents a promising approach to convert most of the solid agricultural wastes particularly lignocellulosic materials into liquid bio based energy-fuels. In fact, major advances have already been achieved to competitively position cellulosic ethanol with corn ethanol. The present summarized review work begins with an overview on the physico-chemical features and composition of agro-industrial biomass. The information is also given on the multi-step processing technologies of agro-industrial biomass to fuel ethanol followed by a brief summary of future considerations. Copyright (C) 2014, The Egyptian Society of Radiation Sciences and Applications. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.