Catalysts for Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass

The transformation to a sustainable and renewable hydrocarbon industry is possible only by the use of biomass as it is the only source of organic carbon. Lignocellulosic biomass can be used to produce fuels, chemicals, and energy in an integrated biorefinery system. Catalysts play a very important role in valorizing the biomass as a whole or its streams to make its use environment friendly and economically viable. Thermochemical biorefinery uses a wide range of catalysts from old natural zeolites to recent hierarchical zeolites in its conversion processes. This chapter aims to educate the reader on the various properties of catalysts that are necessary for a particular process to produce the required products. The various catalysts that have been used to date for several thermochemical methods of conversion have also been explained.