Biomass Conversion Technologies for Bioenergy Generation: An Introduction

Over the last century, there has been increasing debate concerning the use of biomass for different purposes such as foods, feeds, energy fuels, heating, cooling and most importantly biorefinery feedstock. The biorefinery products were aimed to replace fossil fuels and chemicals as they are renewable form of energy. Biomass is a biodegradable product from agricultural wastes and residues, forestry and aquaculture. Biomass could be sourced from a variety of raw materials such as wood and wood processing by-products, manure, fractions of organic waste products and agricultural crops. As a form of renewable energy, they have the advantages of easy storage, transportation, flexible load utilization and versatile applications. The aim of this study is to provide an overview for thermochemical and biochemical biomass conversion technologies that were employed currently. Attention was also paid to manufacture of biofuels because of their potentials as key market for large-scale green sustainable biomass product.