Advances in Biofuel Production

The main driving forces for the development of biofuels are the instability of world oil prices, security of energy supply, global warming, and the creation of new opportunities for agriculture. Interest in the commercial production of biofuels for transport was renewed in the mid-1970s, when ethanol began to be produced from sugarcane (Brazil) and corn (United States) for blending mandates, which defi ne the proportion of biofuel that must be used in road transport fuel. Nowadays over 50 countries have adopted blending targets. However, biofuels are still little represented in comparison to fossil fuels. This chapter will discuss the advances in the production of fi rst, second and third generation biofuels, mainly sugarand starch-based ethanol, conventional biodiesel, biogas and biomethane, cellulosic ethanol, syngas, bio-oil from pyrolysis and hydrothermal process, hydrogen, and the biorefi nery concept. The production of biomass for biofuels and the future trends of biofuels development also are discussed in this chapter.